Paul & Arlene's Excellent Travel Adventures

Last modified: 11/17/2004 08:33:38.  
  15 April  
1800 CST, Huntsville

Today we finally broke down and told the kids where we were going for our family vacation. The boys were both convinced that we were going to the Arctic Circle, which pleased Tom greatly and displeased David equally. Arlene & I decided it would be better to tell them where we were going and start explaining some ground rules (what to do if you get lost, no whining if you don't get to do everything you want, and so on), so we broke the news to them and spent about an hour surfing around Disney's web site.

As you might expect, David is fit to be tied; Tom doesn't really understand where we're going. He's just excited to be going on an airplane trip, where his fondest wish is for one of those little bags of airplane granola that Delta serves. We discussed attractions; David's current favorites seem to be Test Track, It's Tough to be a Bug, and something else that I have forgotten. I am going to try to sneak him over to Spiderman at Universal's Islands of Adventure; that's supposed to be one of the best rides/attractions in all of Orlando.

  
  16 April  
2030 CDT

The kids are finally in bed. Tonight for Family Home Evening, we bent the rules a bit by going to Wal-Mart to pick up some supplies for the trip. The excellent FAQs at the Disney Fan site suggested that we bring several things I wouldn't have thought of:

  • small bottles of bubbles for the kids to play with in line
  • fanny packs for divvying up Mom's load of snacks, etc. (particularly since, in this case, Mom has her own extra load to carry)
  • small flashlights to lessen the impact of dark rides
  • pipe cleaners for making into shapes or otherwise burning off steam

We also practiced our safety by making the boys hold a grownup's hand at all times, no exceptions. That was about as popular as President Bush, but I think we got the point across.

On the way to Wal-Mart, we passed a small carnival, which both of the boys immediately clamored to attend. I don't think so. Arlene explained that Disney was like a whole land of carnivals, and that settled them pretty well. Good thing they don't know about the shuttle launch!

I ordered some FRS radios from Amazon.com. They should make it easier for us to stay in communications at the park, etc, assuming that they get here and that they work OK.

  
  17 April  
2120 CDT

Not much to report today. The radios got here, so I eagerly popped them into the included charger. Only later did I find out that we won't be able to use them; they only support 14 channels. That might seem like a lot, but Amazon kinda forgot to tell me that these particular units don't support the 38 subchannels available on each channel. Since 14 * 38 is much larger than 14, we can expect to get lots of channel-sharing at Disney. Instead, the boys and I will make a high-speed run to the new Athens Staples tomorrow morning.

  
18 April
0620 CDT

 

 Nothing but some last-minute packing today, then it's off to the airport. Actually, first we have to feed the cat, turn off all the extra computers, adjust the A/C, make sure everything's packed, and so forth, but that's all par for the course. I'll pack a couple of Disney DVDs for the airplane flights and we should be in good shape!
0840 CDT Made it to Staples, where we bagged a pair of Cobra Microtalk FRS radios. The boys and I took them out in the backyard to make sure they worked, which they did.
 

19 April

  
0800 EDT We made it safely here, despite the fact that Tom didn't get any airplane granola. Our flights were uneventful, and Tom slept on the ATL-TPA leg. When we got to Tampa, I was thankful for Priceline. We'd reserved an intermediate car at Budget, but they were out of cars, so we got a Highlander. None of us knew what that was, except that it was some kind of SUV. Turns out to be a Toyota SUV that looks very much like a Lexus RS300. Driving it is like driving a really tall car, but it was comfortable enough.

We had a bit of trouble finding the local office of the place we bought our tickets from. However, the hotel was easy to find, and we got checked in and unpacked easily. It turns out we're right across the street from the Disney Marketplace. It's basically a glorified Riverwalk-type shopping complex, but there's a really neat Lego store where we whiled away some fun time. Then it was back to the hotel for dinner and bed. The boys managed to get an astonishing amount of spaghetti on the floor.
  Today, we're going to see the launch of STS-100. Endeavour is carrying the new Canadian robot arm (which can actually "walk" around the outside of the space station); liftoff is scheduled for about 2:40. The boys don't know that's where we're going; stay tuned for a video of their expressions when we break the news. Everyone's ready except for Tom.  
 
Back home | Animal Kingdom