XGatorHead 8904

Day 4: Tuesday, September 16th – A Day Away From Disney Property We spent this day at Grampy & Grammy Gator’s house (my dad and stepmom). It was very nice to have a home cooked meal and spend time with them since we haven’t seen them in over a year. We did however carry on the Disney theme by watching Beauty & The Beast. Day 5: Wednesday, September 17th – Disney’s Hollywood Studios We drive to the park where we’re supposed to meet Grampy & Grammy Gator. We get on the tram and call them to see where they are. They say they’re on a tram and sure enough, we look a few cars up and see them. After a quick visit with Paul (thanks again for everything Paul!), we’re in the park. First thing we do is get FastPasses to Toy Story Midway Mania. Good thing too, because they’re out of them by the time we ride and the line is close to an hour long. We go back towards the Sorcerer’s hat and there to greet us were Pluto and Goofy. I had read it’s rare to get two characters in the same picture, but we did it! Our first ride was The Great Movie Ride. In the queue, GatorGirl immediately recognized this horse from Mary Poppins. Speaking of her… The Duke GatorGirl hasn’t seen this movie yet, but we took her to see the play at Aronoff this past Saturday. She loves the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” but didn’t know it’s from a movie. We didn't tell her about the song being in there just so we could see her reaction when we saw the play. As soon as Dorothy started singing it, she smiled and started singing along. I had to remind her that we need to be quiet while in the theater. But the rest of the day she was singing that as well as "If I Only Had a Brain". We go to Voyage of the Little Mermaid, which GatorGirl loves since it stars her favorite princess. Then on to Playhouse Disney Live, where GatorGirl has a near meltdown. But after taking her outside twice before the show starts, she’s settled down enough to watch it and ends up having a great time. We have lunch at Pizza Planet We eat at a table outside, and GatorGirl says she’s not feeling good. Uh-oh. There’s a park associate who had been talking to us and overhears her say that. He tells us he’ll be right back. MAGIC MOMENT #3???: He comes back with saltines and Sprite to ease her tummy. Of course, it would have been better if he had taken his gloves off while giving us these items, because this associate EMPTIES GARBAGE CANS. Now I’m not saying anything negative about his position at the park. Heaven knows its an important job, and I’ve emptied my fair share of trash cans at KI over the years. But his gloves that touched the saltine packets and the cup have also touched countless amounts of trash before that. Well, I guess it was the thought that counts. Up next is MuppetVision 3D GatorGirl doesn’t like this one as much as PhilharMagic. She likes The Muppet Movie dvd that we have at home, but she doesn’t like the character Waldo in MuppetVision 3D, and the ending proves a little boisterous for her too. New York street It’s time to use our FastPasses. Grammy Gator’s knees are bothering her and can’t handle the stairs, so we go to the wheelchair accessible loading area. We miss seeing the talking Mr. Potato Head this way, but we get to Andy’s room faster. Ready to play This ride is so cool. 2nd best darkride ever (it’s awfully hard to overtake Spidey at IOA). Even though all it is is traveling from screen to screen, the effects and the interactivity make this a great attraction. GatorGirl shows her support for the troops. The girls apparently like a man in uniform. Grampy & Grammy Gator want to rest and try to escape the heat a little, so we decide to let GatorGirl play in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids area while they rest in the shade at Studio Catering Co. While we’re parking the stroller… MAGIC MOMENT #4: A park associate comes up to GatorGirl and tells her, “Mickey Mouse called me and he said that you could have some ice cream!” Then he hands her a Mickey ice cream bar. If she thought the sticker and pin were nice, just imagine her reaction to ice cream. We thank him and head over to where Grampy and Grammy Gator are sitting. As you can see she liked it. (Looking at this picture, she kind of looks like the Joker! ) At this point, Grampy and Grammy Gator decide that they need to head on home to get out of the heat. We say our goodbyes, and it’s getting to be time for Block Party Bash Parade, which I’ve read is very good so I want to see it. GatorGirl has other plans however, and makes it very clear she does NOT want to see a parade. So we go over towards Sunset Boulevard. Along the way, GatorGirl falls asleep in the stroller. We get FastPasses for Tower of Terror, but then we realize we didn’t need to because the return time was 45 minutes later, but the standby wait was 5 minutes. Everyone was at the parade, so that helped. Mrs. Gator rode first while I waited with Sleeping Beauty in the stroller, then I rode for the first time since 1995. I forgot what a fun ride this is, and the themeing… I get FastPasses to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and we head over towards Sounds Dangerous, which Mrs. Gator wants to do to kill some time. While she’s in there, I see that Jedi Training Academy is taking place, so I head over there. That show proves a little too loud, as it wakes GatorGirl up. I remember that the exit area of Sounds Dangerous has a theremin, so we go there to play with that and the other sound effect equipment. Mrs. Gator comes out, and I tell her that Star Tours wait is only 5 minutes, so I ride while they continue to play. I didn’t like it as much as I did 13 years ago. We book it over to the Beauty and The Beast show. Happily ever after… It’s now time for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. The loading area and the trains really impressed me. It was very similar to FoF, but I liked the different LA landmarks along the way. While I was riding, GatorGirl was getting antsy, so the girls went for a walk and met some friends. Mrs. Gator decides to ride Star Tours while I take GatorGirl to Honey I Shrunk the Kids, where she gives a new definition to “antsy”. On her way to Endor, Mrs. Gator first visited New York… …and The Streets of San Francisco Girls on Film. Great, now I have that song stuck in my head. Oh what a tangled web we weave… Catastrophe Canyon on the Backlot Tour Walt’s plane The set of Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, which was unfortunately closed during our visit because they were resurfacing the performance area. In the exit area of Backlot Tour, they had a villains display. GatorGirl quickly recognized this dress from Enchanted. We decided at this time it was best to get seats for Fantasmic. We get some popcorn and drinks along the way and head towards the amphitheater. We ended up with a great spot, second row, a little off to the left. We missed this show in 1995, and with the rumors that it’s getting cut to two nights a week soon, we wanted to make sure we saw it on this trip. We warned GatorGirl that there would be a dragon, but she was fine with it. We loved this show! The effects were great, with the projections on the water and the fire, the dragon, everything was very well done. It's right up there with Wishes in our book. Ariel & Eric Belle and The Beast One last look… Sadly, we didn’t get to see Indiana Jones or eat at one of our favorite restaurants on property, 50’s Prime Time Café. But we had a full day, and were ready for some rest. What unforeseen event would force us to spend another day at Disney? How many toys can one play with in a single day? And do chipmunks like smores? Tune in Wednesday for the thrilling conclusion, Day 6: Unplanned Bonus Day and Day 7: Goodbye World!, in which XGatorHead's creativity is put to the test, to find out!

Sorry to torture you with the Dole Whips! This was our 3rd stay at a Disney resort, and we've never had our window decorated. Our first night this time, Buzz was looking out the window, waiting for us to return, but that was the only thing they did with the window. They did arrange the toys on the bed every day though, and left us towel animals. We tried waiting for Ariel's Grotto last year, but GatorGirl had the patience of a 2 year old then so we didn't last long even with me taking her over to the water play area while Mrs. Gator held our place in line. But I do have to agree with you, the one in your picture is probably the best Ariel I've seen.

^Ugh. Winterfest beat The Beach's event hands down. Of course, I haven't been to The Beach's in about 6 years, before they added the toboggan and paddle boats, but even those wouldn't beat Winterfest. We're planning on going to The Beach next month to check it out again.

Day 3: Monday, September 15th – Magic Kingdom We took the bus from Pop to MK, as I’ve always read that it’s better to take resort transportation than your own car to that park because of having to take the boat or monorail to/from the parking lot. We found out at the end of the night the car would have been better. We got there about 10 minutes after gates opened… pretty good for us. And there to great us is Pinocchio! Our first ride of the day is Dumbo since this line can get long later in the day. This is the first time that any of us had ever ridden it (this was my 6th MK trip, Mrs. Gator’s 5th and GatorGirl’s 3rd). Of course GatorGirl had to get her favorite color. After that is Mickey’s PhilharMagic (we all love this movie), Small World, and Peter Pan. While in line for Peter Pan, the woman in front of me is checking her email on her phone. She says to her husband “The power’s back on in Anderson!” I ask if they’re from Cincinnati, and they are. She works at Mercy Hospital in Anderson, and that’s what she was referring to from the email. The power at their house was still out. It was about this time I figured that I could call our home number to see if our answering machine picks up, and that would tell me when the power’s back on. So I call several times during the day, but the line keeps ringing and ringing every time. As it turns out, the answering machine finally picks up on Wednesday morning when I call before we leave for Disney Studios. So we were only without power for 2 1/2 days. Thank you Cinergy, it could have been much worse! Next up is Pooh, Cinderella’s Carrousel and Snow White. GatorGirl didn’t like Snow White at all, with all the dark scary things in there. Her face was buried in my chest most of the way through. To cheer her up, we took her on her first Teacup ride. It was time for Storytime with Belle. Belle comes out to tell us her story, and she pulls kids from the audience to help tell the “tale as old as time”. The first Maurice gets scared and has to be replaced, then Lumiere has to be replaced, followed soon after by Chip. And who’s the new Chip? Chip tags along and saves the day! Curtain Call After pizza at Pinocchio Village Haus, it’s time for Haunted Mansion. This has always been a favorite, and I had been working on GatorGirl for months to get her to be ok riding it by telling her it’s just like Scooby, only without Scooby. She’s not too thrilled with it, especially when our car stops for a while in the graveyard scene right in front of one of those heads that pop out. But I like what they’ve done with the recent rehab. We grab a frozen Strawberry bar in Frontierland and wait for Woody’s Cowboy Camp to come around. They ask for cowboy and cowgirl volunteers. She didn't want to do this last year, but guess who's first in line this time! Hokey Pokey with Jessie Woody joins in We hope that GatorGirl falls asleep during Hall of Presidents like she has the past two years, but that’s not the case this time. She comes close though. While George W Bush is speaking, Andrew Jackson’s entire body starts shaking wildly left to right for about a minute. I wish we had gotten video of it, it was hilarious. This was the first time I ever laughed in this attraction. It’s soon time for the Dreams Come True Parade Our friend Mary Poppins Peter Pan and Wendy Cinderella and her Prince Belle waves hi to Chip GatorGirl’s favorite princess, Ariel Next was Adventureland. We got FastPasses for Jungle Cruise and did Tiki Room, Aladdin’s Magic Carpet and Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse while waiting. On Jungle Cruise, I was hoping we would get Delorean Rider for our guide, but we couldn’t wait for him because GatorGirl can get a little impatient when not doing anything. Instead our guide was named Alissa (I believe), who did a fine job warding off the dangers of the jungle while cracking some really bad jokes. We each got our own Dole Whip float this year. Last year GatorGirl ate more of mine than I did! If you’ve never had one, get one! Yummy! Pineapple soft serve in pineapple juice, there’s nothing better on a hot, sticky Florida day. Waiting for Dream Along With Mickey Enjoying the show We head off to Tomorrowland and get FastPasses for Space Mountain, which Mrs. Gator and I haven’t ridden since 1994. We do Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor (funny as always), Buzz Lightyear, and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (which we still have a habit of calling the WEDWay People Mover). I ride Space Mountain first, and I had forgotten about the quick movements of this ride. Mrs. Gator rides next as soon as I get off. While Mrs. Gator is away, GatorGirl and I ride Astro Orbiters, which is another ride I had never been on before. It makes me a little nervous that we see lightning in the distance while riding, but I figure they would have closed if it wasn’t safe. Back to Main Street for SpectroMagic, which is a must see for us on every WDW trip. After that, we dash back to Tomorrowland to see Carousel of Progress. To us, no trip to MK is complete without seeing this. “There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow…” While we pull into the last area (the exit room) of the attraction, we hear fireworks starting... We exit just in time for Wishes. We've always stood and watched it behind the castle, right next to Cinderella’s Carrousel and Dumbo. We like that spot because the action is all around you. But we didn’t have time to get over there so we watched from next to the Astro Orbiters elevator. Not as good a spot, but while we’re there… MAGIC MOMENT #2: I’m holding GatorGirl, watching Wishes, and a “Litter Gitter” (to borrow an old KI term) approached us. He gave GatorGirl a Tinkerbell pin. She loved it, and kept going on and on about how that man was nice. Time to leave We have to wait 45 minutes for a bus back to Pop. But in the meantime, we’re able to see the Electrical Water Pageant from the bus station, which we’ve never seen before. As we pass the MK parking lot, it’s completely empty. I think we would have gotten back quicker driving our car. The only thing that we wanted to do but didn’t have time for was Goofy’s Barnstormer, so GatorGirl didn’t get her coaster credit #3. What could possibly pull us away from Disney in the middle of our trip? What two special guests join us on the trip to Studios? And what Magic Moment is questionable in its execution? Tune in Monday for Day 4: A Day Away From Disney Property and Day 5: Disney’s Hollywood Studios, in which GatorGirl gets a special surprise gift from Mickey, to find out! WOOHOO!!! 500th POST!!!

What is it with us scaracters and our metal objects? I had a 3 ft long pipe that I carried. Had to intimidate the ruffians coming into the Club, you know! And there's nothing like a simple pipe drop to scare the bejesus out of some people.

Thanks for that Terpy. I always love hearing of concepts that were, for whatever reason, not realized. One of the extras on The Little Mermaid dvd is a POV animation of a proposed Little Mermaid ride, which took you through the various scenes of the movie. My daughter loves watching this and pretending she's on a ride. Back in '93 or '94 I had a class with a family member of a PKI executive who told me about plans for a new ride. Being a big fan of the Paramount property it was based on, I was truly psyched for it. When the ride was finally officially announced, the concept was something else entirely. Years later, I saw the concept drawings for the original idea. It would have been nice but I can see why they changed it, and I'm very happy with the way it eventually turned out.

Thanks Avatar! That Elmo costume she was wearing at KI kind of hid her face, but I have to agree she is a cutie. Of course I'm majorly biased! I had read reviews of the Supcalifragilistic Breakfast where the kids were afraid of the Mad Hatter, one even went as far as saying that she didn't know why he was there, he had no place at the breakfast and he should have been way more subdued. But the Mad Hatter character is anything but subdued, he was very great and true to the movie. Reading those reviews I thought, "Afraid of the Mad Hatter? Not my kid, she loves Alice in Wonderland!" Oops! The only deluxe pool we got a chance to see was Wilderness, we completely forgot to check out Grand Floridian's, and we didn't get off the monorail at Contemporary or Polynesian. As far as Pop pools, we spent the most time in the Bowling Pin pool. We liked the pavement around it that looked like a bowling lane. GatorGirl's worn life jackets at KI before, but this was the first time she's ever let go of mommy and daddy while wearing one. She loved the freedom of swimming on her own, and kept going up and down the length of the bowling pin. We liked the squirting flowers around the Hippy Dippy pool, and our least favorite was the Computer pool, with it being just a plain rectangular layout. HoundDog - You're getting ahead of me on the 50's Primetime Cafe, I refer to that in Day 5! We ate there in '95 but didn't get the chance to this time. Our waiter "uncle" made sure we cleaned our plates and got after me several times for having my elbows on the table! Its our favorite restaurant on property, the wait staff really get into their jobs there. And the toys didn't move on their own? I started thinking Toy Story was a true story! But seriously, I knew about Mousekeepng doing this so we made sure the toys were left out for them!

^Oh, you mean the people I don't make eye contact with as I rush by them at the beginning of my KI visits?

Day 2: Sunday, Sept. 14th – Touring the Resorts We woke up, and GatorGirl was feeling MUCH better. We made the drive to the Grand Floridian for our Supercalifragilistic Breakfast reservation. This resort is very impressive. Breakfast was very good. Everything we tried was very tasty. We all agreed that the strawberry soup was our favorite, and I really liked the citrus syrup for the pancakes too. We had many friends come visit our table while we were eating. First was Tigger. Then Alice asked GatorGirl how old she was. Alice asked if we had fed GatorGirl mushrooms because she was “awfully small”. Mary Poppins stopped by to say hi… And Pooh snuck up on her. But when this guy showed up… …GatorGirl was terrified. She said he was too loud and she didn’t like his nose and teeth. This guy was perfect though, he had the voice and mannerisms down! Mary Poppins stopped by and cheered her up by singing a little “Spoonful of Sugar”. I was impressed that Mary remembered GatorGirl’s name on several occasions throughout the morning. After breakfast, we rode the complete monorail circuits. We got on at Grand Floridian, rode around to Magic Kingdom, the Contemporary, and got off at the TTC. We switched monorails and rode over to Epcot. This is the first time any of us had been on this monorail line. As the monorail enters the park, I just have to smile as I hear a woman say “I didn’t know this went into the park!” I guess she never noticed the track above her that goes around Spaceship Earth. GatorGirl points out the window to The Seas and says “We were there last night!” Back on to the TTC to switch back to the original line and back to Grand Floridian to drive to our next destination, Wilderness Lodge. Having been to Yellowstone, we wanted to check this place out. They did a great job modeling it after Old Faithful Inn. Even the lobby was great, with its huge fireplace and tree-like columns. GatorGirl loved tossing pennies into the hot spring, something I would absolutely not condone at Yellowstone! We went out back to the pool area, which had a fun looking waterslide inside the rock formation. We took a walk along the boardwalk path and came upon a hot spring… …and Fire Rock Geyser. We continued down the boardwalk and came to Bay Lake, and a boat dock. We decide to take a nice boat ride around Bay Lake. It made stops at the Contemporary and Ft. Wilderness Campground. It was very hot and humid outside, so we grabbed some drinks and found a nice cozy couch in the lobby. We sat there for close to 45 minutes, just relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere. MAGIC MOMENT #1: On our way out of Wilderness Lodge, we were walking through the carport area to the parking lot. A voice behind us starts calling for us to come back. The valet gives GatorGirl a Goofy sticker, which just made her day. She kept going on and on the rest of the day how “That man was nice for giving me the sticker”. We went back to Pop Century to swim. When we got back to our room, Buzz Lightyear was waiting in our window, and all of his friends that we brought along were arranged on the bed. We didn’t leave them this way, who knew Toy Story was based in fact? We swam in all 4 pools (50’s Bowling Pin, 60’s Hippy Dippy and Kiddie pools, and 80’s/90’s Computer) and played in the water jets at Goofy’s Pop Jet Playground. After drying off we headed to our car and said hi to Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head on the way. This Rubik’s cube was too hard to solve. Sunset on Hourglass Lake, which was behind our building. We went to the Boardwalk resort for dinner. We had nice cool chicken salad sandwiches from the Boardwalk Bakery, which we ate at a table outside. What a nice atmosphere Boardwalk has, with the lake and all the roaming performers. They even had a guy playing a piano that he pedaled like a bike up and down the boardwalk. Unfortunately most of our pictures didn’t come out too well that night. We watched Epcot’s Illuminations from here. From our vantage point, it looked like the fireworks were coming out the top of the ESPN Club restaurant. While at Boardwalk, we received a call from my sister telling us of the high winds we had gotten from Hurricane Ike. She told us that there was no damage to our house, but there were quite a few branches, trees and fences down around the neighborhood. And to top it off, the power was out and Cinergy was saying it could be a week before they got it back up again. I thought of the food that we had in the fridge, and wondered how bad the smell would be when we got home. Back to Pop Century, and off to bed. Will our power come back on in less than a week? Will we need some SpectroMagic to bring the Electric Light Parade back to our castle? Or will we be forced to live like the Swiss Family Robinson when we return? Tune in Friday for Day 3: Magic Kingdom, in which GatorGirl is put under a magic spell and transformed into an enchanted teacup!

Thanks RailRider, Terpy and Avatar! Avatar, I was a little concerned about the portion size when they brought it to the table, but it was just right, not too filling. And it was sooo good too. Besides, while at Epcot, its good to try foods from the different pavilions (not that we did on this trip, but last year, WOW!). I did wonder if I should post when the next installment would be up, but I find myself with the most time on Monday, Wednesday & Friday of each week (and now that I've said that it will probably not turn out that way, so go easy RailRider! ) It's looking like it will be five parts, and I have most of the parts close to done already, just need some final tweaks here and there. And when I was writing the teaser at the end, the idea of an old radio serial came to mind, so I had to let people know when to tune in next time...

Yes, Avatar, it's finally here! I really liked the way you set yours up, so I'm going to follow the same model. Around January or February of this year we got a flier in the mail for 40% off WDW Value Resort rooms during certain times of the year. We noticed that many of these times were during the school year, and since GatorGirl isn’t in school yet that was perfect for us. We made our reservations for Pop Century back in March, and counted down the months to GatorGirl’s third visit to the World. We typically do two parks with a day of rest in between. Two years ago was just MK, last year was MK and Epcot, so we decided on MK and Studios this year. I was put in charge of the video camera, and Mrs. Gator took most of the still photos, with a few exceptions. Note: We took the least pictures on Day 1, so in the parts to follow, there will be more of them! On this trip, we even had some magical moments which I will highlight, as well as some of the best customer service we’ve ever had there or anywhere. Day 1: Saturday, Sept. 13th - Epcot We flew out of CVG to Orlando with no problems. Our flight landed around 3:00, and we had made plans to meet our friends Paul and Aaron at Epcot around 5:00. So we had two hours to get our luggage, get our rental car (where I had a heck of a time figuring out the installation of the rental child seat), drive to Pop Century, check in, and get to Epcot. To save time, we decided to have Mrs. Gator run in to Pop Century to get our room situated, and we would take our stuff to the room after Epcot. Our room was in the 70’s section, appropriate because 2 of us were born in the early part of that decade and remember the latter part pretty well! Paul and Aaron had originally made reservations at Tokyo Dining for us, but after looking at the menu online, there wasn’t much that GatorGirl would have eaten (even though there was plenty on there that sounded wonderful to us adults). Paul works for Disney, and Aaron, his brother, is an annual pass holder there. Whenever we go, we let them pick the place to eat since they have much more knowledge on the subject than we do. Two years ago we went to Mama Melrose's at Studios, and last year was Kona Cafe at the Polynesian. Both were very excellent choices. So with Tokyo Dining out of the picture, they were able to make reservations at Garden Grill for a character buffet dinner and at Chefs de France. On our way to the park we decided on Chefs de France since we were doing a character buffet meal the next morning, and we rarely have French food. We met Paul and Aaron at the gate and walked back to France. I had the Jarret d'agneau, tian de legumes (or braised lamb shank with ratatouille vegetables). Mrs. Gator had the Filet de Saumon, salade de choux avec pomme et mais, coulis aux herbes (or broiled salmon served on mixed cabbage with cubed apple and corn salad, fresh herb vinaigrette). My lamb was wonderful, extremely tender, and the veggies were very good as well. And Mrs. Gator was very happy with her choice as well. Despite the good selection on the kids menu, GatorGirl didn’t want to eat anything and was very cranky. We would eventually find out late that night why… After dinner, we decided to take in a few rides. We had told GatorGirl the day before that we were going to Epcot too, and ever since that point she kept asking if we were going to ride rides (that’s my girl!). We walked through World Showcase on the way to Norway, since we missed riding Maelstrom last year. We found out on the ride that GatorGirl definitely does not like trolls! She hid in my lap when we got to that part of the ride. Next was Gran Fiesta Tour at Mexico, where she did much better …she liked this one last year and we had to cheer her up after those pesky trolls! She can handle that troublemaker Donald Duck better than them. We moved on to Future World, and snapped this pic along the way. Our first stop in Future World was The Seas with Nemo and Friends. A cute ride with a LONG queue line. Both times we’ve ridden it it’s been a walk-on, but I can see why they made the queue area so long for those busy days. We just love the EAC section of the ride, it makes you feel that you’re going way faster than you are. And I'm still trying to figure out how they get Nemo and the gang in the real fishtank! On the way to Turtle Talk with Crush, we had an encounter with Bruce. Doesn’t he know “Gators are friends, not food!” GatorGirl sat in the front on her own at Turtle Talk, and even raised her hand to ask a question, but I guess Crush didn’t see my little offspring… We asked her later what she wanted to ask him, and she wanted to know why turtles have shells. We left The Seas, and we kind of started gravitating towards The Land. As much as we would have loved to have ridden Soarin’ again, I didn’t feel like dealing with an unhappy three year old since we didn’t have to much time left in the park. So we headed to Spaceship Earth. This was rehabbed since our last visit, and we liked the addition of the screens in the pods. After you leave the ride, you can send a postcard from the future to yourself. Apparently this is what GatorGirl and I will look like in the future. I thought she would have grown a little by then. We left the park while Illuminations was going on behind us. I know a lot of people love this show, but it’s never really done much for me. Maybe I just haven’t watched it from the right place or something, but there seems to be a lot of “down” time during it, especially when all that is going on is the globe. Give me a straight out fireworks show like Wishes instead, and I’m happy. We parted ways with Paul and Aaron, and drove back to the resort to unload our car. Mrs. Gator and GatorGirl fell asleep fairly quickly, but as usual, I stayed up. And now the reason GatorGirl didn’t eat dinner… At about 11:45, GatorGirl starts vomiting in the bed. This wakes up Mrs. Gator next to her, and we quickly grab towels, garbage cans and anything else we can think of to help clean up the mess. We called the front desk to have Mousekeeping bring replacement bedding and towels, and they said they would have someone there in 30 minutes. GatorGirl’s forehead was hot, so we also asked them where we could get some medicine. They told us the store in the main building had it, and if it was closed when we got there the manager would get it for me. As I was leaving to get the medicine, there was a knock on the door. It was Rose, our Mousekeeper, with all the linens we needed. She was there in about three minutes after the call, not the thirty that we were told. Rose was very helpful and understanding, and we could not apologize enough for the big mess. The store was still open, so I got the Children’s Tylenol and headed back to the room. We gave GatorGirl a couple doses throughout the night, and hoped that she would be well enough for the rest of our WDW visit. Will GatorGirl get better? Or will we need to completely change our plans? Does a spoonful of sugar actually help the medicine go down? Tune in Wednesday for Day 2: Touring the Resorts, in which we receive a visit from Mary Poppins, to find out!

I liked the addition of Capt. Jack Sparrow to Pirates. MK's most recent addition was Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor which opened last year, which is a very entertaining attraction. They also refurbished Haunted Mansion last year, making some of the scenes/effects better. We've gone to WDW for three years in a row now, but are seriously considering skipping next year. Instead we're thinking about doing a "Parks of Pennsylvania" tour, hitting some combination of Waldemeer, Idlewild, Kennywood, Hersheypark, Sesame Place, Dorney and Knoebel's. We would have liked to included Conneaut Lake too, which I just found out my wife went to quite a bit as a child, but that's looking extremely unlikely as it's headed the way of her other childhood home park, Idora.

I worked in Oktoberfest Gardens 1992-1993. We served beer that entire time. In the front of the building we sold Hudy Delight and Little Kings. At Back Bar, as it was known then, later to become Lt. Dan's, we sold the same two beers plus wine coolers. There were no "sentries" posted at the exits to limit people exiting the patio with beer, nor did we instruct people to keep it on the patio when they bought it. The patio restriction came later. If I remember correctly, the only other places one could get beer those years were Columbia Palace, International Restaurant and Festhaus. I remember that because some were unhappy with the brands we sold, and we had to direct them as to where they could get their Budweiser and Miller products. That's too bad. Having worked Club Blood, I know the girls got quite a few looks from people on Saturdays as we passed through Action Zone on the way to Club Blood, but I never overheard anything negative. I sure there probably were some mean things said, but most of the reactions I saw from people were pretty positive.

Thanks for all the nice comments everyone. I know I tend to get a bit wordy when typing, so thanks for getting through it! Hahaha... Good one! I finally sorted the pictures yesterday, and sat down to seriously type it out after that. I like the way you did yours, breaking it into different sections, so I'm following your model. I want to have Part 1 up Monday at the latest. And of course, that will be the most wordy one because we took the least pictures that day, and I've found that Day 2 is more picture captions than anything else.

The building that hamoperator is referring to in this picture is not Redbeard's. Redbeard's did not come that close to that corner of Wings. From left to right there's Redbeard's, then an employee gate, then the smokehouse/grill building, then Wings Diner. I'm not saying Redbeard's isn't gone, I don't know if it is or not. But the building in the picture is the smokehouse/grill building. EDIT: Just saw the webcam, it looks like Redbeard's is gone too.

I figured everyone else is posting one, why not me! I hadn't seen any that included the last weekend of Howl-O-Fest, or the joys of visiting with a 3 year old (actually she'll be 4 this Saturday). We arrived at the park at 11:45. No one checking passes at the Gold Pass parking lot, but those were pretty much the only cars in the entire lot anyway. We made a mad dash over to Nick U so we could line up for the Howl-O-Fest parade. GatorGirl was wearing her Elmo costume that Grandma Gator made for her. This time they were giving away green ribbons to the kids for participating, something they didn’t do the last time we went. GatorGirl posed very nicely on stage with the entire Scooby gang... Scooby, Shaggy, Velma, and the two who weren’t there last time, Fred and Daphne. We completely forgot to stop by Keyhole to get the picture, it would have been a nice one. We suspect the announcer wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to be, because he made some comment about her being a bug, which Mrs. Gator corrected him on. Once again she didn’t win one of the cool prize bags, but that didn’t matter, we were ready to have fun! Next we went over to the free popcorn and games, and this time they were giving away prizes just for participating. She got a recorder, trumpet, star sunglasses (with a Paramount Parks price tag still affixed), a spider ring and a little pirate figure thing. They were also selling Nick merch for real cheap. We got a Backyardigans bat and baseball set, and a set of 3 different Backyardigans balls for a total of $2. Does the bell toll for thee, Nick U? Watching the HB characters, I realize I wouldn't mind at all seeing them replace Nick. Especially if they kept the face characters like Wilma, Bam Bam, Pebbles, Shaggy and the rest of the Scooby gang, all of whom we saw that day. How this would go over with the kiddies who watch Nick I'm not sure, but for this old Gator who grew up on HB, I'd love it. Nostalgia 2010!? Before we know it, we'll see which path CF chooses in regards to Nick U. Next we did the mazes, the candy stops, picked out our pumpkins (even me this time!) and decorated them. Then GatorGirl saw another girl decorating a mask, and she wanted to do that too. Around this time I was getting a little antsy, because we had a lot to get in before the end of the season, and only a few hours in which to do it. We asked GatorGirl what she wanted her first ride to be, and as always she picked Scooby. About a 5-10 minute wait. Our Mini Mystery Machine stopped very early in the the ride for a few minutes, so we sat there and shot at the targets to rack up points. I ended up with over 3000, and GatorGirl got a little over 300, her highest score ever! We were highly disappointed though that NONE of the animatronics worked. None at all. None of the target activated ones, not Shaggy being chased by the monster (which didn't work at the end of last year either), not even the shelves that tip towards you. I seem to remember the same thing happening last year at this time. I even thought “What’s the point of even opening it then?” Next was Backyardigans Swing Along, then off to Festhaus to catch the 3:00 Ghouls Gone Wild and some pizza. Along the way on Int. St., I see a group of people there, and among them is one I recognize from many pictures in a multi-part WDW trip report…Avatar. So I stop to chat for a little bit with Avatar, Ryan, and the rest of the crew. We get a whole cheese pizza (because as GatorGirl loves to tell people “I like pizza with nothing on it”) and a table. Katie (the witch) talks to her before the show and knows immediately that she is Elmo. Katie was the first person to get that right all day. And we figured out that it was because the eyes on the costume are far apart (Grandma Gator didn’t realize that Elmo’s eyes are right next to each other when she made the costume). But it was cute anyway. The show was well done again, and afterwards GatorGirl had to talk to all the girls in the show. She wanted nothing to do with Mummy, Wolfman or Frankenstein. We go out the back, and there’s no line for Delirium. Mrs. Gator goes first (1 cycle wait). GatorGirl and I talk about the ride, how it’s one of Mommy and Daddy’s favorites and how it’s like a big swing that she says “goes way up in the sky”. We watch for Mommy, who waves to us. GatorGirl says she wants to ride it when she gets big, “Maybe I’ll ride it when I’m 10!” and I said “Or maybe when your 7!” She has the thrill seeking gene… I ride next (walk-on), and as I’m walking up the queue line I see Avatar’s family, Lisa and Miss Rae, walking towards me. By the time I realized who they were they were already gone. They were exiting the queue and I thought I heard Miss Rae say something about being too short to ride. She didn’t seem too happy. But Delirium for me was a good ride as always, and I waved to GatorGirl as I was swinging. We went out to SP Processing to get our passes 2009 done. I had purchased online, we had to wait 15 minutes because they only had three stations open. I thought Wow, when I worked here we had all the stations upstairs and in the basement open on the last weekend. 3 stations would have been suicide, and the line would have been all the way down Kings Island Dr. The line was not too long, but long enough for GatorGirl to get impatient. And then we all 3 had to get our pictures taken over again because for some reason they couldn’t transfer them over like they did last year. GatorGirl didn’t want her's taken, but we got it while Mommy was holding her and we said that Mommy was having her picture taken (which of course she did too). Back into the park and back to Nick U. for ALL the rides. We didn’t want to miss any, and we did get them all in! For all the reports I had seen about Nick U being the busiest place in the park these last few weeks, it sure wasn't on Sunday. Everything was either a walk-on or 1 cycle wait, just like the rest of the park. Mrs. Gator and I even got to ride Avatar as a walk-on (separately of course). It was 6:15, and Mrs. Gator wanted to ride something else herself since I was planning to be on the last Beast train of the season. So it was off to Adventure Express for her last coaster ride of the year. While waiting, GatorGirl wanted a drink, so we went to the vending machines right there where we promptly lost $3.50 because the machine is completely empty. (We later get it back from GR at the end of the night). Mrs. Gator gets back and we head to Skyline for that drink. I wanted one last ride on Monster with them, but it was getting close to the time for me to go to Beast. So I leave them (they end up riding Monster twice in a row without getting off, and they were the last two cycles of the year!). After a stop to admire the beauty that is Diamondback, I go to The Beast. The trees! I’m reminded of The Lorax “I speak for the trees! Let them grow! Let them grow!” Oh well, I’m sure I’ll be happy with that nice steel helix there! There’s a lot more people there this year then there were last year for the last Beast train of the season (which was on Halloween, on a chilly Bare Bones night). I see the KIC crew there and wait with them until it’s time to go up to the station. And StalkerChick, did I really hear you say that was your first night ride on Beast? How could that be? I’ll let it slide that it was your first park visit of the year that you weren’t working, but your first Beast night ride ever? Please tell me you didn’t say that! I end up sitting with Dane, who I finally saw for the first time without his Haunt makeup on (sorry I never got a chance to talk to you in the theater the nights we had Haunt. I met Uncle Henry, KIMan and StalkerChick but not you). I got in first like I always do. I prefer that side because I love to lean into the turns between the 2nd tunnel and the 2nd lift hill. And of course my hands are up the whole way. I really didn’t expect to ride a second time, but who am I to say no? After discussing the aspects of hammerhead turns vs. tickle giggle turns on the way up the lift, we’re zooming again. And I LMAO when Dane grabbed StalkerChick’s shoulders in the tunnel. The ride is over too soon as we pull back into the station again. I leave the exit, and Mrs. Gator and GatorGirl are waiting for me. GatorGirl has gotten a frozen strawberry bar from the vending machine there, and is happily munching on that. We walk through a darkened Rivertown, and through a darkened Nick U. It’s hard to say goodbye to another season, all the things that we had done there this year (ok, ok, the nostalgia mostly rocked, sorry I was a little cynical earlier in the season), and thinking about the 5 ½ months until we can go again. We tell GatorGirl that all the rides are in bed for a long time, and she asks why. I tell her that it will be too cold to ride anything soon. She tells me she doesn’t want them to be cold in the snow, but I assure her that they’ll be alright, and we’ll be back here when it gets warm enough to ride again. Now for some pictures. The only camera we had that day was my phone. Here’s Elmo on Nick Jr. Drivers Getting ready to plunge Elmo and a new friend While they were on Timmy’s Air Tours, I just had to get this picture! Here’s looking forward to a quick 5 ½ months, another 16 (or more) KI visits next year, and Diamondback!

That would be the smokehouse/grill building that was attached to Columbia Palace/Wings Diner, just to the right of the building where Redbeard's was.

It was actually designed this way!!!

I could ride Drop Tower, as well as my favorite coaster, Millie, at one time. But a few years back, because of some accidents involving larger people on Intamin coasters, Intamin tightened their restrictions on size. So we could ride these rides one year, and the next we couldn't even though we had remained the same size from one year to the next. So I know what I'm missing... which is probably worse than not having ridden at all. At least for TTD and Wicked Twister, since I never got to ride those, I don't know what I'm missing. But I do miss DT and Millie. I can only work to get to that point again (mainly for the health benefits, not just to ride rides. I'm not that shallow, but it is nice to have a secondary goal). It can be, and has been, done before! I attempted last off season, but this year I've joined a gym so I'll be exercising more than last year. Sorry, thread hijack over...

^And to add to that, they also go by age, so a 3 year old would need a pass. Since I highly doubt your 3 yr old is 48" (I know mine isn't!), she would need a Jr/Sr season pass (for ages 3 and up, under 48" tall).

Yes! I forgot about that. Hopefully I'll be on the last Beast train of the season like I was last year. Only this time, my wife and daughter will be with me so we'll have to figure something out since GatorGirl's not 48" yet. Maybe Mrs. Gator won't mind staying with her.

Hey... Who ya callin' huge? Gator, who just HAD to, especially after having Karen imply that I was not young, and now Terpy's calling those of us out that can't ride numerous Intamin rides at Cedar Point, as well as a certain Intamin drop ride at our home park. I'm just getting beaten up here lately! I'm just picking on you Terpy, I know you more than understand the situation yourself, once upon a time...

That guy DID look a lot like the bouncer from last week. I thought it was just me. Wait, it was me. Now I'm just confused... But seriously, I loved working the motorcycle room on Friday. I got a lot of good scares in there that night. I laughed when I had a girl go through who said to her friend "I thought that was the bouncer..." I guess you just never know where we'll pop up! Good to see you enjoyed yourself once again!

I don't know what we use for blood, I just know my arms and face are covered with it every Friday & Saturday!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I was told ahead of time that you were coming through and that you asked about me, so I was prepared. It did kind of throw me off when you weren't in your chair, that's why I had to ask you if you were Karen! And the look on your face when I heard you ask "Who's Gator?" and I jumped in front of you and said "That would be me!" was just priceless. I'm glad you enjoyed it though, and like I told you Saturday, I can finally mark your name off our VIP list! But now that you're no longer on the list, just don't expect to get in as easily next time! Now about that comment about me not being "young"...