Work, the Fort, Thousand Trails, more work, and new friends.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

So the traffic on 192 wasn't bad?

 

The few times I've driven on 192, it was really, really congested.  Still a better option than 4, I would suppose.

 

I love the fact that your son is tall enough now that your whole family is able to ride together.  The family photo on the Mine Train was great.

Wait, I fixed the map link. Don't go the whole way to the turnpike- turn before that onto 545, then onto Hartzog Rd. and then take Western Way into Disney. That part of 192 isn't bad. The closer that you get to I-4, it gets unpleasant.

The fixed map directions

Thanks for the kind words about us on the ride. He's a ton of fun on the rides- squealing and laughing the whole time.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Looks like you all were having so much fun!

[djsamuel 322]

Wait, I fixed the map link. Don't go the whole way to the turnpike- turn before that onto 545, then onto Hartzog Rd. and then take Western Way into Disney. That part of 192 isn't bad. The closer that you get to I-4, it gets unpleasant.

The fixed map directions

Thanks for the kind words about us on the ride. He's a ton of fun on the rides- squealing and laughing the whole time.

 

You'll avoid a TON of traffic going that way.  Just watch the police, especially where the speed limit drops to 30MPH near Western Way.  We use that way all of the time, and my wife uses it coming home from work every day.  Much more relaxing.

[Seals 111]

I'm not a big Duffy fan, but your daughter's obvious happiness in this photo makes me think he must be ok.

 

 

Nice different sort of shot of the castle.

 

 

Too cute!

 

Looking forward to reading more of your adventures.

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Are your plans going to bring you through Indianapolis? If they do give us a heads up and we can meet up for some food.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Looks like you all were having so much fun!

Having fun is something we do well.. that and spending money. Sadly, spending money comes very easily for us. :D

 

 

You'll avoid a TON of traffic going that way.  Just watch the police, especially where the speed limit drops to 30MPH near Western Way.  We use that way all of the time, and my wife uses it coming home from work every day.  Much more relaxing.

No kidding on this. What I had forgotten about with driving up in a metro area is the friendly flashing your lights to warn of a cop ahead. We weren't speeding, but it was nice to see other driver's looking out for each other.

 

 

I'm not a big Duffy fan, but your daughter's obvious happiness in this photo makes me think he must be ok.

 

Nice different sort of shot of the castle.

 

Too cute!

 

Looking forward to reading more of your adventures.

I agree about Duffy. I don't see the fascination- he was literally created in order to merchandise. But, for some reason she really like him and yes- she was really excited. For a non-speaking character, we had a great interaction with the Duffy stuff. It was pretty cute and pretty fun. 

 

Are your plans going to bring you through Indianapolis? If they do give us a heads up and we can meet up for some food.

I do believe we will. Right now, not until next summer. But with this unexpected romp down to Branson, MO - we're trying to figure out a route. Here's what we have now:

http://www.rvparky.com/trip/6065550066188288

[ependydad...Doug 176]

As I mentioned, we're at Thousand Trails and I'm back to working full-time. It's a regular 9-5 like anyone else, I just happen to be at the camper (oh and working 7-5 so that I can do four 10-hour days). It looks like I had a coworker for a bit:

Apparently, he was working to pay for dinner as we went to T-Rex. Our past few T-Rex experiences have been very good (which, for a mediocre chain says a lot coming from me). Quick service, super friendly server, and the food was better than expected. Sadly, none of that was the case this time. But, it's still fun to walk around. Here's the bar:

The big T-Rex when you walk in:

We went shopping next. I took this picture for my "Where in the world?" entry. But I sort of forgot where it was taken! I know we went shopping, so I'm assuming the ceiling of the "World Of Too Many People shopping For The Same Crap That You Can Find Everywhere Else" store.

Because, holy people, that's why:

We did allow sister to make a custom phone case for her iPod. That was her big treat on this trip:

Meanwhile, I got tired of chasing the monkey inside and took him outside.

Something tells me the universe was talking to me. But don't worry, I didn't listen.

We took the boat back to the otherside where the garage (err, parking deck, or something) was. No storms tonight.

To make me feel better about the insane mass of people, we went to the only place where I could hate people more.... WALMART.

(Fortunately, it was the one in Clermont so it wasn't nearly "end of world"-feeling as the one nearest the Fort.)

The next day, we headed to Epcot. Only this time, we made it there as a family. I shared this on another thread- but they really were confiscating selfie-sticks. This CM has a handful of them:

It appears that I was picked for sitting with my son and we rode, "The Big Ball" as he puts it.

And then we had FastPasses for a character visit:

The cast member mentioned that there was a group of 40 behind us. We thought she was joking, but then a tour group starting pouring in. I'd hate to have FastPasses *behind* them. Your FastPass would have you in the SLOW LANE.

I don't have a picture of both kids with Goofy, so you get to multiple pictures:

And finally, last but not least- Minnie:

And, I thought this one was really cute. I'm not sure who thought to pose my daughter this way- but it works.

After that, we saw that there was just a 10-minute wait for Mission Space. My wife and I don't do simulators, but my daughter does. So my wife took her in.

Son and I sat inside the gift shop enjoying the A/C and eating snacks.

Next up, I had heard about the log rolling here on FortFiends and told my wife that I wanted to see it sometime. She made it happen. She's so awesome. It was fun and funny- we enjoyed it. For the chainsaw part, the trusty ear muffs came out:

I didn't know there was more than just log rolling. I think we were Team Red and we lost.

Friendly group, though:

We made our way back to Frency-french-ville. We had time to kill before our dinner reservations, so what else was there to do? EAT desserts, of course! I had the "La Chocolat Donut":

My wife had the meringue again. Equally yummy from our anniversary trip, though she says this one was a tad bit smaller than last time.

I took this for another Where's Waldo? (err, Where in the World?) post. But I'll just tell you where it is- the Frenchy Theater.

By the time we got to the theater, my son was incredibly grouchy from his lack of naps recently. He said he didn't want to watch the movie (we get that a lot before shows- he doesn't want to be there) so I offered two choices, "Stay and watch; or, go outside and nap." Much to my surprise, he picked "go outside an nap". My wife took him and that's exactly what he did. In fact, he slept through the duration of movie and entirely through dinner.

My daughter thought this was the funniest thing- "I look like I'm drinking alcohol, but I assure you, it is not."

(Notice the new ears she's rocking- she bought them with her $20 of spending money.)

As always, thank god the children look like their Momma. She's beautiful and so are they.

(Sadly, they act just like me- little jerks! I'm not sure if I'd prefer it the otherway- a little goofy looking and nice; or very pretty and jokesters.)

While inside Pepe Le Pew's restaurant, a ferocious storm rolled through. Side ways rain, trees whipping around, I saw the wicked witch on her bicycle at one point (I didn't even know that was a Disney movie!). It was crazy for a while. Fortunately, we were snug eating our expensive but nothing spectacular food. (Though, I say that- my wife said the French Onion Soup was incredible. But dangit- it has "French" in the name; it sure better be good!)

We decided that we had enough Epcoting for one day and donned our many years old and now tearing all over ponchos to head out:

There's another report of the sunset sky over the parking lot. Well, I take that bet:

When I got to the camper, we caught up with the tail end of the same frog-strangling rain. And, my concerns were realized- we had quite a steady stream of water coming in one of the corners of the slide in my bedroom. Not just a little dampness, like a literal stream of water. On Monday, I called Pat Monohan on the recommendation of some folks on a Thousand Trails Facebook group. He came out the next day and fixed it right up. While there, he fixed a laundry list of items for me. If you're in Orlando and need RV repair, call this guy:

Monahan RV Parts & Service

16503 Golden Eagle Blvd

Clermont FL 34714

Patrick Monahan

352 536-0385

[email protected]

Otherwise, we still have plenty of more trip ahead of us as the next day is Hollywood Studios for July 4th, meeting new friends again, and more.

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

You will be close but yet so far. Fair Oaks is about an hour and a half from us. I am certainly not opposed to driving up there but my due date is the 9th. I have very very very fast labors and never travel farther than 30minutes from home. Maybe we can catch you on the flip side next summer.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

You will be close but yet so far. Fair Oaks is about an hour and a half from us. I am certainly not opposed to driving up there but my due date is the 9th. I have very very very fast labors and never travel farther than 30minutes from home. Maybe we can catch you on the flip side next summer.

What? You don't want to deliver alongside the highway? Sheesh, I see where I rate!

Any input on Fair Oaks? Nice/avoid/just so-so? I'm headed there to be close to my aunt in Crown Point.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Speaking of Shellie Mae- I purchased a couple of these giant purses from an eBay seller in Hong Kong for the twins' birthday:

 

 

They were a big hit, and they constantly get compliments on them in the parks.

 

TCD

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Speaking of Shellie Mae- I purchased a couple of these giant purses from an eBay seller in Hong Kong for the twins' birthday:

 

They were a big hit, and they constantly get compliments on them in the parks.

 

TCD

I saw that on your TR- that makes me laugh! With as rough as Space Mountain is, I'd be worried about losing it. Nicely done.

[Beckers 1,136]

see now- above Philly, but below Levittown (where my family is). Great place.

That is right across the river from me, if you ever end up this way let me know.

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

The only thing I know of Fair Oaks is that they have some big state if the art Dairy barn that you can tour. I have heard it is pretty cool. Not sure about the campground. Prophetstown which is close by is a nice state park with pull through sites and a water park. Not sure there is space available but might be worth a peek. Oh and yeah, in that I don't mind delivering in a car it would totally screw up the detailing. ; 0)

[ependydad...Doug 176]

see now- above Philly, but below Levittown (where my family is). Great place.

That is right across the river from me, if you ever end up this way let me know.

Sounds good. We used to go through that area on a semi-regular basis with family out that way.

 

 

The only thing I know of Fair Oaks is that they have some big state if the art Dairy barn that you can tour. I have heard it is pretty cool. Not sure about the campground. Prophetstown which is close by is a nice state park with pull through sites and a water park. Not sure there is space available but might be worth a peek. Oh and yeah, in that I don't mind delivering in a car it would totally screw up the detailing. ; 0)

I think my issue with most state parks in the area is the lack of full hookups or big rig friendliness. We go through a LOT of fresh and gray water with showers and are terrible at water conservation.

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Most of the sites are full hook up. It is a newer state park so everything is really nice only no laundry.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Most of the sites are full hook up. It is a newer state park so everything is really nice only no laundry.

Ahh, neat. I'll check it out!

[ependydad...Doug 176]

We've finally caught up to July 4th. I'm not sure if I mentioned before but if you read my blog, you know that as part of this fulltime RVing year, we joined a group called Fulltime Families. Most of our interaction with this group has been via a Facebook group. In it, we "met" another family who are also just about to launch (in fact, I just texted with him- they're officially out of their house, but are staying local for a few more days). There are more similarities based on our families. It works out that they live in the Orlando area and we were able to arrange a visit back at our camper one night. We had a great dinner, the kids hit it off, and had a good time. In fact, such a good time- that we all decided to get together at Hollywood Studios for July 4th together. And that's where we find ourselves...

On every drive onto property, we would see the Tower of Terror. After little dude road it, each time the kids would SHOUT (quite loudly, I'll add), "TTTOOOOWWWEEEERRRR OOOOFFFF TTTEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOORRR"! So I took this as we pulled into the parking lot:

We got there before them and had FastPasses for the Great Movie ride. I read the hubbub over the changes. Fortunately, I didn't have any past memories of it so we were good. As I think TCD mentioned, the ride was a bit dated but still enjoyable. Their "sets" in the different rooms were a lot of fun to see. Since I hadn't ridden it lately, I'll post a good many pictures.

This is the entry, right?

An in-line selfie.. trying to remember that glorious trip the month before.

Starting to roll into the first room:

We were hijacked:

We were also in the very front row. My son wasn't entirely sure of this guy invading the car:

(Though, the CM made sure to sit still so that I could get a good picture. I didn't realize it, but I noticed he moved immediately after I moved the camera. I don't think it was a coincidence. Pretty neat.)

And our driver is back. The kids were enthralled:

Temporary hidden mickeys:

We caught up with our new friends and had lunch at the 50s Primetime Cafe. Our waiter had us laughing the entire time. I'm fairly certain he brought my daughter to tears in laughter. No pictures as we were having that good of a time. The food was decent and I tried the PB&J Milkshake (once was good enough for that- I like peanut butter by itself, apparently).

After lunch, we had FastPasses for the Frozen Singalong. Walking there, I saw a guy take a picture with a selfie-stick. Very quickly later, a CM had engaged him and was working on confiscating it (I assume).

I have to admit, we are a Frozen family. We own the CD and listen to it in the truck (at my son's request most of the time!). This was a first for us and I really enjoyed it.

First, some of the lighting effects:

The girls:

On stage action:

I think this was during the snow:

Afterwards, we made our way to the Lights, Stunts, Motors show. It was nice having new meat for pushing the stroller.

Our friend's Mom noticed a door open on one of the fake streets. Knowing that it was fairly unusual- I took the chance and took some photos.

Looking to the side:

Looking up:

Looking at the backside of the door. That's a lot of electrical plugs:

With our 2 groups, we had 8 people. It was here that we learned of the policy to only let 5 people go with a handicap person (making 6 total). That meant our group had to split up. But don't worry, we kept the girls together. Two peas in a pod with covering their ears:

My son watched intently:

I do enjoy this show, even if it's 100% the same for as long as I remember. Flying car:

Cars on 2 wheels:

Flying motorcycle:

Smokey The Jetski Bandit:

Flaming man:

Kaboom:

The cast of car-acters (see what I did there?):

Then, in another win, our friends Dad and kids like Star Wars and like simulators and took my daughter onto it. Apparently he's quite the connoisseur of the Star Tours ride and was disappointed in the 2 selections they got. I'm not even going to try to name them but they were "like the worst you can get". While we waited, I took my son over to watch the space cadets:

And, he about crawled out of the stroller to get away from Darth Vader. So I made sure to first take a picture before backing him away. You know, good dad style.

I have more from our day, but should break here. We hit up the Indiana Jones show, said goodbyes, rode some rides, and had a good day.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

We're actually looking forward to the Frozen show, we missed it last time.  The stunt show...yeah, not sure that has changed in years.  But, I think we missed it last year.   Star Wars... blah.  Not my thing, but our youngest might enjoy it...he is really into "bad guys".  I have no idea    Seriously, strangest thing.  Each time we see a cop car he asks, "was there a robbery?".  Daddy was a cop years ago, but I can't imagine that they've had any deep conversations, I mean...he's only 3.  Maybe we should be worried?  

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Why did I think the stunt show closed?

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Why did I think the stunt show closed?

 

I think it was the backlot tour that closed... haven't done that one in a few years either

[ependydad...Doug 176]

We're actually looking forward to the Frozen show, we missed it last time.  The stunt show...yeah, not sure that has changed in years.  But, I think we missed it last year.   Star Wars... blah.  Not my thing, but our youngest might enjoy it...he is really into "bad guys".  I have no idea    Seriously, strangest thing.  Each time we see a cop car he asks, "was there a robbery?".  Daddy was a cop years ago, but I can't imagine that they've had any deep conversations, I mean...he's only 3.  Maybe we should be worried?  

Ha! Let's just say that he wants to be a profiler. Get in their heads and catch them. We missed it the last couple of trips and it took 2 tries to watch it this time, so it was nice to see. The Frozen show was more fun than I expected- the librarians were pretty funny and, hey, I'll admit- I know all of the words to the songs and sang them loud and proud.

 

 

Why did I think the stunt show closed?

Maybe Nacole figured it out? I don't recall the show closing, but I'm really not 'in the know'.

 

I think it was the backlot tour that closed... haven't done that one in a few years either

I enjoyed this one. I can understand closing rides to make way for new ones, but this area just sits vacant- that seems strange to me. Back then, it was always full when we did it; but we hadn't ridden it in quite a few years before it had closed. Maybe attendance was down.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Unfortunately we don't have any pictures, but after Star Tours, we went for cupcakes. I knew that the little place beside of the Brown Derby had cupcakes, so I assured everyone that we could go there and get a sugar fix for the kids. What I didn't expect was that it would be closed by this time of day. Fortunately, it looks like they take all of their unsold cupcakes over to Starschmucksand we were able to buy the same yummy cupcakes there. No pictures as there were 4 kids hovering as the moms cut them up. We had chocolate, vanilla, and even a carrot cake one. They all passed the, "I would buy that again." test. We said sad goodbyes and wished each other safe travels. It is amazing how quick you can become friends with people you barely know. Kindred spirits and all.

However, that wasn't the last that I saw of the dad that day. I got this text saying, "hey, I found someone's ugly truck":

We realized why we like them so much- they're us. That is exactly the kind of picture I'd send to someone (well ok- maybe missing a middle appendage).

By the time we got to the Indiana Jones show, little man was tired and cranky. Our family are serious about our naps- my wife and I still look forward to the rare occasions that we can get one and even our 11 year old will take them reluctantly (but when she does- she's out like a light!). So as we got into the Indy show, he started complaining that he didn't want to be there. We were up towards the back anyway, so I took him to the back wall to hold him in the horizontal position. After a bit, he didn't want help and wanted to lay down.

That lastest until somewhere between here:

And here:

So we watched the show. Did you ever notice their fire extinguishers are entirely for show? You couldn't fight your way out of a match with those things.

But, explosions are always cool:

With the closing of the art classes, we knew that we needed to make it to one of those. Fortunately, we headed there before rain, so we only had to sit through one class before it was our turn. I'm not sure that I have the patience to herd my 3 year old for much longer than that. Fortunately we carry lots of snacks. But, the class was pretty neat- I wish we had done more of these.

Our instructor who make it look WAY too easy:

My daughter did good:

My wife got a lot of "help" with hers:

Mine looks like a heavy version of Tigger. I guess he's been eating a few too many Piglets lately:

Dinner was next. We hit that place with the things and ate the stuff. I got suckered by "the most American cupcake that you'll ever eat". It was supposed to be apple-pie inspired. It was good, but not necessarily worth the $4+ that it was. Oh well, live and learn.

It was getting late at this point and my wife wanted to watch the July 4th fireworks. My daughter, who isn't a fan of fireworks, wanted to ride rides. I was torn- I like fireworks and my wife but I also like rides. So, I did what I had to- I stapled a note to my daughter that said, "if found, call me at (___) ___-____". No, I lie... I took my daughter to ride rides and totally missed fireworks. Which makes me sad- my wife said they were really good (and she/we are kind of fireworks snobby).

First we rode this:

And then we rode this:

Can you guess the rides?

Maybe a second picture of the second one will help:

And with that, that was our night. We ran around to maybe catch Tower of Terror a second time- but by this point, the fireworks had let out for a little and the queue was filling up. It was already at a 25 minute wait and ain't nobody got time fo dat. We met up with my wife out towards the front of the park and headed home.

The original plan was to head to a water park the next day (Sunday) and Universal on Monday (Monday being my first "travel day" and four 10-hour days at work). What my wife and I realized wass that we were knackered and if we pushed on Sunday, we would all be angry, crabby, tired, and mean on Monday. My daughter didn't like hearing that we weren't going to a waterpark but she likes my singing, "You can't always get what you want...".

Instead, we decided on an around camp day (we didn't tell her, but we also had a trip to Ikea planned).

As you can tell, the boy has no fear of the water. In fact, I have a fear of his lack of water fear.

Here we are:

We were (heck, still are) trying to get control over the insanity that is "too much stuff". My wife had Pinterest visions for what she wanted to do in the bunkhouse under on of the bunks. Think "loft bed" setup- bed above, shelves and stuff underneath. So off to the land of cheap furniture we went:

Jumping ahead by a couple of days, and it worked out almost as she envisioned:

Sunday was a rough (but lucky) day on truck key fobs. First, I jumped into the pool with one in my pocket. Fortunately I got that "ugh, crap" feeling as soon as I went under water. I laid it out in the sun right away and it continued/continues to work. And then at Ikea, we closed the store down at 7pm (actually about 7:15pm with the super speedy lines they have there) and headed out to the truck only to realize that the keys were no longer in my pocket. As I started going through the diaper and snack bags, my wife headed inside to talk to customer service. The worker there very politely offered to take a number and call my wife if they were found. The woman didn't understand that we were literally stranded there, as they were our only keys with us. My wife got an "escort" around the store. In the meantime, I was on hold with Good Sams figuring that they could arrange a taxi to take me to the camper, get my other set of keys, and then go back for the family. As I was explaining for the 2nd time that I didn't lock my keys in the truck and instead that they were LOST, my wife texted me saying she found them. I sat down at exactly 2 spots in the store- she found them deep in the cracks of the first spot. Good times.

Keeping up the Sunday Funday, we couldn't find the Universal tickets in the camper. We bought them from PGHFiend and safely put them into an envelope. And in our uber organization, misplaced them. Fortunately we're headed back to Disney in February, so we changed plans and decided to go to a water park on Monday.

We flipped a coin and decided on:

I'm not sure if this is real or a Disney construct, but the flags are code for letters:

See what this says:

(Hint, it says "Thanks for the cash".)

We somehow befriended a PhotoPass photographer. Her job was to be roaming and taking photos and she literally roamed with us 2 or 3 times taking pictures. She did a great job and was a lot of fun. Enough so, that I stopped by the PhotoPass desk to say something to a manager-type.

Here we are on the way in, fresh, dry, and still pretty:

Inez took us up the mountain to take some pictures near the top. She snapped this one of my daughter on a bridge.

This wasn't hers but instead was one of the "standard" photos that are taken. We literally laughed the whole way down.

Beware, the wave pool here is a SURF pool. And it'll throw you down. In fact, it threw my wife down and the cheese-grater bottom skinned her knee up pretty good. It hurt her for a good 1-2 weeks afterwards. The upside? We ran into Inez, she took us to first aid, and took pictures outside of it.

I'm so serious:

Another that wasn't Inez's, but one that I love:

I love that they have photographers out in the water. This photographer causes quite the traffic jam as everyone wants a picture. It's worth it, though!

We ended up with a good 90+ photos from the day. We had a lot of fun.

That's a good breaking point- especially since I'm close to the photo limit anyway. That was the extent of our day- a play day at the waterpark and then we headed home. At some point on this Monday, I got ahold of the mobile RV repair guy and setup an appointment for the next day. Our time in Florida is wrapping up- we had a couple of date nights with the girl, Grandma showed up, another water park day, and wife and I got away for a date night since we now had a sitter.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Oh gosh... that last photo of all four of you is toooooo cute!! Love it :)

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Oh gosh... that last photo of all four of you is toooooo cute!! Love it :)

Thanks!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great update!

 

There's a lot to comment on;

 

- I'm glad you got to the drawing class, as it is now shut down, possibly for ever.

 

-the photos of those two rides you asked about are Rock N Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror.  You only get to enjoy that marble door in the standby line, so I haven't seen it in a while.

 

-you and your wife did a good job with your Ikea project.  That looks like a great use of that space.

 

-excellent job translating the Typhoon Lagoon flags.  I didn't check your work, but that must be what they say.

 

-all of those Photopass photos at Typhoon Lagoon are excellent.  I wish they had that back when we were frequent visitors.  The bulk of my photos are from disposable waterproof cameras, and they're awful.

 

-speaking of Typhoon Lagoon, did any of you do Shark Reef?

 

TCD