Postmodern Renaissance Culture Revolutionary

The next day was Animal Kingdom day. So we got up to get ready to head out. In the process of getting ready, I discover the first horrible mistake of the day. Today is Extra Magic Hour Entry at AK. Why is that a mistake you ask? Because I planned it that way and then forgot it. So the plan was for getting to AK for EMH and rocking along. We didn’t get to AK until about 8:30 (30 minutes late in the plan). I was headed to Everest for a FastPass. The line was only 10 minutes, but Lisa and boys were on Kilimanjaro and I wanted pics of the animals. That’s why we went early. To find the critters. And shoot them. With a camera. So I grab my FastPass and head back toward the safari. I stopped to takes some pics and checked my phone. Hmmmm. Missed call. Who could it be? Why, it’s my lovely wife. “Hi, it’s a 30 minute line. We’ll wait for you.” I call back, “No, go ahead and go.” I waited for them at the end. And waited. And traded a pin. And waited. And watched fo...

Magic Kingdom is a very cool place. But I don’t have to tell the DISer’s that. I do have to tell the folks on my blog that, though. Hi blogsters! But we head out of Casey’s after eating a pretty durn good dog. And a half for me. And we have a new plan. Off to Neverland. Literally. We headed to Peter Pan. And horror of horrors, there is a line. A 20 minute line. What is the meaning of this? We walk on Pirates and don’t even have to wait for the Tiki Tiki Tiki room. Now a 20 minute wait. And the boys encounter their first hurry up and stand still location. When we get on board we split up. I get #1 and Lisa get #2. And that is the way it went most of the trip. #2 needed Momma’s reassuring presence. #1 was old hat at this. By the way. #1 and #2 is not a favorites designation. If it were, then the numbers would be a lot different. And change more often. #1 is the oldest and #2 is the younger. #2 LOVED Peter Pan. He has watched it a couple of times. But he loves Return to Neverland. He will...

Ya’ll really don’t care about all that other stuff. What you want to know about is the parks. Well we finally got to the parks. But it took some time. We got to the hotel about 4:30 and out of the room at about 5:00. We stopped long enough to watch the geyser erupt. Funny. We didn’t take the time to see that last time. But this trip will be different. We will take time to do things. Because the wife said so. We troop down to the docks to catch the bus to MK. Blue or Green. Blue or Green. This is sort of like Matrix. And our choice resulted in a Neo warped reality. Because I forgot that the boats reverse directions after a certain time in the afternoon. So we hopped on the boat thinking we were headed to MK when in reality we were headed for Fort Wilderness. Now it doesn’t take that much time to get there and back to MK. But this was our first day. And we were ready for some fun. Airports are NOT fun. Airplanes are NOT fun. Buses with broken T.V.s are NOT fun. Boats that don’t go to the...

Did you know that every hour actually exists throughout the night? I know because I woke up during every hour. Finally at 3-you-have-to-be-stupid-to-get-up-this-early:30, I woke up and got out of bed. I played on the computer and showered. Lisa stirred soon after. The boys were out cold until almost 5:00. But we all managed to get up and get ready without major issues. The airport was a snap. Dropped the car off at long term parking. We had to pay the valet a hefty tip for all the luggage, though. But chiropractic care is covered under my home owner’s insurance. Then zip on the shuttle to the airport. It was funny when we got off the shuttle. The luggage rack was full when we left the parking lot. When we got off, it was practically empty. At that point I started calling it “the furniture”. We got into the airport looking like a couple of Sherpa’s for the Maharajah and entourage. We got checked in and found the gate (conveniently located next to each other). We all passed through s...

As you may remember from the last episode, we left our intrepid travelers somewhere in the middle of nowhere, but not lost. We arrived at the hotel that we booked through Priceline. Bill Shatner has come a long way from commanding a starship and getting all of the alien babes. Now he’s the huckster for this “budget” trip site. Now, if you have had a great experience with Priceline, happy-happy-joy-joy for you. I didn’t have a great trip with this one. Got a 2 star for $35 (plus hidden charges and a couple of taxes). Then I read the fine print for the stupid room I just bought. “This room most likely will only have one bed. Any larger or additional beds will require an upgrade charge. (Or something like that.)” Dadgum. Why didn’t they say that upfront. We get to the hotel and I walk in. And yes, for some of you wondering – right hotel, right day, right city. I walk up to the desk like I know what I’m doing (‘cause ya’ll know I don’t, right?). I am in the system the little computer shows...

Days of waiting and living with the expectation of vacation was maddening. We spent the days of that last week counting down the days. I had lots of time to ponder: what are we forgetting? Did I get the planes right? Do I have all of the ADR’s planned? Is there any way the kids can stay home at this point? That last one was not true. I was committed to taking them. Just not excited. I kept having flashbacks of the last trip. And Lisa was threatening them with not going. So I didn’t have to. Friday arrived. This was Trip-mas Eve. We were driving out on Saturday for Kansas City. But Friday night was special, too. For #1S. He had a slumber party. 9 7- & 8-year old boys. Talk about the craziness involved with that. Amongst yourselves. Cause we were content. Only one child to deal with was a vacation in and of itself. Plus we had some friends take us out to dinner. Thanks again, y’all. And thanks again for that other thing. Saturday dawned bright and beautiful. I’ve heard that somewh...

We are preparing for our trip. We are at about 1 ½ months to go. It is becoming Fall-ish. And that means one thing – state fair time. Oklahoma is blessed with two state fairs. Huh? How’s that, again? Yep. Two state fairs every year. The Great State Fair of Oklahoma and the Tulsa State Fair. The GSF is in OKC. The Tulsa SF is in….Tulsa. We are close to Tulsa. We don’t like the TSF. We like the GSF. So I like to go to the website and see who is coming each year. A couple of years back, we discovered that Disney On Ice was pretty cool. We saw Toy Story 2 on Ice. At that time our #1S was really into Toy Story. I checked the website to see what was coming and knew in a flash we had to go. The Incredibles are going to Magic Kingdom. WoW! What a co-inky-dink. The show was also going to be at the TSF. But a couple of things stood in the way. First was that we don’t like the TSF. Second was that it would happen while WE were at WDW. Then I looked on the activities list and saw another Disney li...

We live in NE Oklahoma. We are about ½ an hour from Tulsa. Tulsa has a nice little airport. It is serviced by most of the big name airlines: AA, Delta, Southwest, you get the picture. But Tulsa doesn’t have one thing that many other airports have: special discounts on airfare. For weeks I compared Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, and Dallas/Ft. Worth. I have flown out of 3 of those airports. So I was kind of familiar with them. When I was researching airfare, guess what I found. The best price was at an airport I have never been to. And is 4 hours away. But it was a really good price. Because Tulsa’s prices stink. Even though the paper said it has the best prices in NE OK, NW AR, SW MO. You know why? It’s the ONLY stinking airport big enough to land a bunch of big planes. So I start looking for airfare. But gas is climbing upward. Buy now or wait? Chance a good price now or chance a fare hike to match gas? Gas is shooting up (at this point we were seeing 2.30’s). Ever one to pla...

Now, this last mistake that I can’t live down is really a painful one. Because I can’t blame anything or anyone else for it. It is wholly and completely my fault. We used a touring company for our last trip. The same one that we are using this time. Our TA was great. She took care of everything. But the one thing she didn’t handle was the plane tickets. I am internet savvy enough to book a flight on a plane. So I get our plane tickets purchased and we are ready to go. When the trip comes, I print everything off and put it in my Passporter. Never had one problem while we were there. All of our dining ressies went off without a hitch. Room was perfect. Memories were made. Some resolutions were resolved: never take other family members to Disney World. And we were off to head home. When we get to the airport, we are unloading the 4 gajillion bags that we brought, and I do curbside check in. It goes something like this. “Hi, we are on flight such and such to Dallas.” “Mr. Berg...

Okay, that last post was long winded. But I get paid by the word. There was another incident at Disney that cannot be lived down. And this one, I am ashamed to admit, is somewhat offensive to some sensibilities. So if you are offended by bodily functions and the natural processes the body goes through to digest food, you may want to go on. Now. EPCOT was fairly new. Back then it was cool to go into the communication center and call and book your dining when you got into the park. It was supposed to be a cool thing to do. {Reflective pause} Kinda lost something over time, didn’t it. Like color T.V. And their shows. So we went to EPCOT to enjoy the newest, non-Magic Kingdom experience. And while gadgets and science are all cool stuff, I was looking forward to the World Showcase. I always like exploring and seeing new places. As we were looking through the dining option, we settled upon the Mexico pavilion. So lunch plans were set. We toured the coolness of E...

Now before we get to the trip in earnest, or Orlando if you must be specific, I feel I must share some historical milestones along the path to this trip. Why??? Filler, people. It’s something to chew on whilst you wait for the start of the actual trip. So, picture this: 1984. I am the plucky young age of 13. I was a chubby, nerdy type; even then; as now. Only now I have less hair. My family (consisting of my Aunt, my Mother, me, my sister {it ain’t grammatically correct - - it’s chronological}) wings our way to Orlando and stay offsite. We do this because we weren’t going to spend all of our time at WDW. And we were cheap. This was before Disneyitis had set in in my life. So we do MK and EPCOT. Because that was all there was then. At that time, there wasn’t a Test Track. Or the Living Seas – even Nemo-less. If you asked who Nemo was, the answer would have been the captain of the Nautilus (for literate types) or some cartoon on Captain Kangaroo. Now I must digress here to share a tra...

Part 3 – The use of free dining Like so many millions before, we jumped at the chance of the free dining. For those of you who may not be Disney nuts, I will explain. Disney sells vacation packages - room and park passes. But they also have upgrades. One of the most popular upgrades is a dining plan. For about $40/night, you get one sit down meal, one walk up counter type meal (like a fast food restaurant), and a snack (just about any tasty treat or drink under $4). Well Disney also runs promotions where you get the dining plan free. That's right - FREE! Free food! I love food. So when we knew we were going back to the World, we got right to the menus. Where, o where, shall we eat? One problem really stood in the way of enjoying all of the great eats: #2S. He is not a finicky eater. He refuses to eat anything outside of his own approved menu. Which is only about 5 items long. And changes hourly. How picky is this kid, you may wonder? Pizza is a great example. He loves piz...