Random Rants

Well, we got on a plane this morning.  It was kind of nice, and the big surprise was that we got to sit together, even though we were boarding in section C (See Southwest’s site for info on their boarding).  The flight was pretty uneventful, and I got to read a lot more of my book, as well as just veg out and listen to my iPod.  Got home and began the long process of unpacking.  I’m gonna need a vacation from my vacation.

Dan General Rants

So anyways, thanks to the rain the past few days, we were able to complete hte majority of the parks and would begin our trek back through things we missed.  To begin with, we hit Animal Kingdom again so we could ride Expedition Everest again.  Got our FastPass, so what do we do?  We hit the Kali River Rapids again.  Nikki didn’t want to get wet.  Oops .. our bad .  She got soaked.  Then we walked around a bit, became bugs in the “A Bugs Life” show, and then hit Everest.  The whole time, we’re looking for Churros with Kyle chanting “Churro, churro, churro”.  We didn’t find any.  Back to Epcot for some roaming around and waiting for Soaring.  Got to eat Sushi as well.

Final full day and what do we want to do??  We hit Epcot again for Test Track and Mission Space.  In fact, the line for Test track was so quick, we wound up giving away our Fast Passes.  Back to MGM for a second run at Tower of Terror and Aerosmith’s rockin’ coaster.  Also got to eat at the Brown Derby. 

Introduce Mr. Clammy (the Churro replacement), a Mussel shell that kyle had left over from his appetizer, and the waiter must’ve thought we were drunk/stoned, or something like that.  I don’t think we’ve ever had that much fun at dinner. 

And, we finally found the Churros, at a single cart in MGM.  I wonder what the heck they did with them all over.  Oh well.  We got to wander and relax for the rest of the day. 

Jon and Cindy had drinks with Nicole and I for our final night in.  It was good seeing Jon and Nicole tried to weasel information about my past from him, but failed miserably.  Whether that’s Jon not remembering any of the juicy stuff or Nicole not asking the right questions, I don’t know, but damn was it a fun time.  Cindy seems nice.  I wonder if Jon’s going to correct the situation with her naked finger (Jon, you should’ve seen the look on your face). 

Back home tomorrow.

Dan General Rants

Well, we hit the big two parks over the past few days.  Yes, I’m talking about Epcot and MGM.  Fastpass is great, but Pirates of the Caribbean didn’t have it.  So we waited in line for 30 minutes for Pirates.  Not bad.  Thank god for the rain, which cleared the park out.  But even still, it’s a little ridiculous, since the Peter Pan ride had a tremendous wait.  The kids loved “It’s a Small World”, but only because of the guy running the ride dancing like a fool (kind of reminded me of Bobby Vector dancing back in the day, but that’s between the old school bandies). 

We also hit Epcot.  Nikki, unfortunately, didn’t really get a true chance to drink around the countries, but she did get some from each place.  Drank some Saki in Japan, had Moroccan beer, and Wine/Champagne in France.  Test Track was a fun ride of sorts, and Mission Space made us all queasy (at least the first time around). 

We caught the fireworks at both places, which was a site to see.  The ones at Epcot were so nice that we had to go back and catch them (that and the rest of the family is short and couldn’t see the show on the water).  I killed my back holding Kasey on my shoulders, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. 

And Kyle began to realize that Disney isn’t just about Mickey.  It’s also about Churro’s (which seemed to disappear from most places after Christmas)

Dan General Rants

Well, we woke up bright and early this morning to board the early plane to Florida. Can’t say it was a waste waking up so early, and after dealing with things, I’m amazed at the job the TSA does, no matter how much I disagree with the government on national security (but that’s another post for another day, when I’m living in the Bahamas with my millions of dollars). Anyways, I had an aisle seat, but near the end of boarding, Nicole convinced me to give up my seat so an older couple could sit together.
So where do I get stuck?? In the back row of the plane, between some fat lady and a guy sprawled out, thus making broad shouldered me VERY uncomfortable for the whole flight. My back gets sore just thinking about it. Thank god it was only a 2 hour flight.

The Disney Magical Express bus ride was very comfortable and very uneventful, as was check in. Staying at the hotel, we got key cards that could be used as credit cards all over Disney. Very nice, and in our case, it would be very expensive in the end. But well worth it. The cards also had our dining plan on them, which we put to use almost immediately.

So we hit MGM the first day. God was it crowded. So came our first incident of misery. Apparently, the food stand we hit had morons working behind the counter, as they lost a bunch of orders, ours included. Even after they kept calling the newer orders and we all started complaining. Finally, after a bunch of yelling, we got our food. The rest of the day was fun. We hit the Aerosmith Rockin’ Roller Coaster, as well as Star Tours (Disney’s Star Wars ride that’s been there for a long time). Fun all around. We ate at the 50’s diner as well, which was very reminiscent of when I was knee-high to a grasshopper. Back to the hotel, set the alarm, and we’re off. Animal Kingdom in the morning.

Day 2 came in with a bang (or a beep more exactly). God was that a loud alarm clock. We hit Animal Kingdom bright and early, after a decent breakfast (which is unusual for us as a family). Everest was crowded as can be. Can we say FastPass. Disney implemented the FastPass system, which allows you to get a ticket, return to the ride at the time listed on the ticket, and get on without issues. And since it was crowded for Christmas Eve, they came in very handy. Hell, they came in very handy for most of our vacation. That and the rain, but that’s a story for my next entry. Had fun at the park, got some decent pics (which I hope to have up soon), Then we hit MGM and had our first Churro of the trip. They’re so good, that they’re all the kids want for most of the trip (too bad we didn’t have more snack credits ). Got to ride Tower of Terror tonight. What a fun time. Have I mentioned the meal plan yet? Let me just say that if
you’re going to Disney for a decent length vacation, get the meal plan. It’ll pay for itself in spades. Peace out, and tomorrow, we hit the big boys.

Dan General Rants

So anyways, this hasn’t been my week for fun at the Gym.  The YMCA @ Greenbrier decided that they were going to dedicate this week to repairing the men’s locker room, fixing the tiles in the shower.  While they didn’t close the whole locker room, they did close the showers, which relegated us to the outside showers.  No problem, right??  WRONG!  Monday’s workout was nothing new (actually, a bit longer than normal due to my earlier than normal arrival), but I was ready for a nice warm shower to heal the pains of working out.  Well, let’s just say it was a tad colder than expected (can we say freezing?).  Not a major deal, but it really didn’t get the day off to the start I wanted. 

Jump forward to Tuesday and, while the showers would later be hot, my workout would not.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays I start with some light cardio exercises and then hit the Cybex machine circuit.  I’m almost complete with my circuit, and have only the back exercise machine to go.  Unfortunately, another member beat me to the machine.  She acknowledged my presence, so I sat and waited.  Let me preface this by saying that each machine is labeled with “Please, only 1 set when others are waiting”.  I figure there’ll be no problems since she knows I’m waiting.  Boy, was I wrong.  After looking me in the eye, she starts a second set.  Slightly ticked off, but I can handle this, as there are a lot of members who do 2 sets of everything, and I can handle a bit of a wait.  But, not satisfied with 2 sets, she decides to do a third.  Now, I’m royally pissed, since she obviously knows I’m waiting.  Third set done, 10 minutes later, she wipes down the machine.  I hop on, and as she’s walking away, I state “Glad to know you can read”.  She obviously didn’t hear me over her headphones, but it felt good to say it.  Some people can be so ignorant.

Flash forward to today.  Yet another cold shower would await, but this time I get teased.  Hop in the shower and I’ve got hot water (well, really warm anyways).  Start to lather up, and the shower goes cold.  What to do, since I’m lathered up already?  Well, let’s just say it took a while to warm up after this morning’s shower.  AARRGGHHH.  What does tomorrow hold??

Dan Working Out