Friday Evening
After lunch, T and I went over to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure (this playground needs a shorter name!), where he enjoyed running around on his own without his older brother. Afterwards, we headed over to the Star Tours gift shop, since my wife and I had decided that the kids could build their own lightsabers if they wanted to. Did I mention that he loves gift shops? T built a purple one, which is taller than he is when it's extended!
We went for another ride on TSMM, and then headed back to the resort at this point (pausing to get our picture taken at the arch into the Animation Courtyard).
On the bus on the way back we amused ourselves in our usual fashion. T invented a paperless version of Tic-Tac-Toe, where you just point to different spots on his knee and call out X or O. I don't know how to win, since he beats me every time. We also play a modified version of "Rock Paper Scissors", with the additions of "Shoot" (a gun that beats the basic hand signs), "Invincibility" (which is unbeatable), and "Pickleman" (who also beats everything, using a variety of weapons). I never win at this game either, the rules are constantly changing!
Meanwhile, my wife and K went off on their own for the early afternoon. They had thought about going on the Backlot Tour, but it would have conflicted with their plans to see "Lights, Motors, Action" at 1:30, so they went directly there instead. It was apparently quite memorable, since K still regales me with tales of the different cars they had and how the did certain stunts. Then they went over to Star Tours, where K built a green lightsaber. He'll be an expert in no time! They were back at the resort by 3PM.
I haven't mentioned the hurricane yet. Earlier in the week there had been concerns that a tropical storm in the Atlantic would develop into a hurricane, and hit Florida directly towards Friday, interfering with our vacation. I didn't mention it, since I had been studiously ignoring it. I also didn't mention the earthquake which happened on Tuesday, with an epicenter in Virginia. Frankly I like to ignore the outside world when I'm in Disneyworld. I'll give the events of 9/11/2001 as an example of this...That happened on our 3rd day of our Honeymoon in the World, when we were staying at the Grand Floridian. My mom called me that morning, and informed me of the events, and specifically asked us not to go to the parks that day, but of course I ignored her warnings and went anyway! The closed down all the parks around 11AM that day (we were in Epcot).
Anyway, by this day it was becoming clear that although Hurricane Irene was not really going to affect our vacation in Disneyworld, it was going to seriously impact our plans on getting home, since the airports would likely be closed. So I came up with a backup plan of renting a car and driving home. While T was resting in the hotel room (he did not nap), I called AAA and made the necessary travel arrangements with Hertz. My wife and I went to college on the west coast of Florida, so we had both done the driving trip several times (although not with children!). I managed to do it in 21 hours straight once (lots of Mountain Dew on that trip). To me it made more sense to drive home and get home on Monday night, rather than having to wait for the airline to find us a flight some time in the future (Tuesday or later).
We had reservations at 5PM at Chef Mickey's, so we took a Blue Flag Launch from the Wilderness Lodge over to the Contemporary. We were checked in at the restaurant by 4:30, which gave me time to go to the Business Center and check my email (we did not bring a laptop with us, and I didn't have a smart phone...we were on vacation from technology as well!). It cost me $6 for 10 minutes of computer time, but that was enough to check the car rental reservations and let people know of our driving plans. Dinner at Chef Mickey's was ok, but it wasn't great. We saw Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, Donald, and Minnie. The best part about Chef Mickey's is being able to watch the Monorails drive by, and of course being able to take the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom after dinner.
We arrived at the Magic Kingdom at around 6:30PM, and headed over to Tomorrowland to ride a few things. First we took another spin with Buzz Lightyear. I sat with T, and helped Buzzy, who was in charge of spinning the car around. Afterwards I managed to convince him to take his picture with Emperor Zurg at the end of the ride, which he wouldn't do on the first day.
We then spent a fair amount of time in line for the Astro Orbiters. T initially said he didn't want to ride, so we went up just to watch my wife and K go, but at the last second he changed his mind and wanted to go. Fortunately there was an open rocket for us to ride in, and he had a great time.
The PeopleMover was our next stop, because it was starting to get dark, and Tomorrowland looks a lot different at night time. It's more colorful for one. It's also a great way to relax for a few moments. T walked down the moving exit ramp himself (rather than being carrier), so he's getting a bit more adventurous.
We ambled over to Fantasyland to ride the Tea Cups again, since that was T's favorite here at the Magic Kingdom. This time he sat with his mom, and I sat with K for a change. After the ride T commented that "You" (meaning me, as Daddy) made the ride "more funner". I guess my wife wasn't spinning as fast! It's good to know that I'm useful for some things:).
We could have stayed and done a few more rides, but we wanted to head back to the resort for a swim. We stopped briefly at the Emporium on Main Street and picked up a pin lanyard for T, along with a few pins. We left shortly after 8PM, and people were already lining for the Main Street Electrical Parade. Why someone would want to sit for that length of time is beyond me! We took the boat back to the hotel (we all got boat trading cards, which were new to me).
Back at the resort we grabbed a quick snack at the Old Faithful Club (since we had made it back in time for it to still be open!), and then we all grabbed our bathing suits and went downstairs. We swam for a bit, and then I took K over to the beach to watch the Electrical Water Pageant again at 9:30 (T did not want to see it again, and stayed swimming with his mom). Afterwards we returned to the pool, and swam until the lifeguards went off duty at 10PM, and then went upstairs and went to bed. Tomorrow was our last day in the parks!
