tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19229744628571115202024-03-12T19:25:09.843-07:00Thompson Family Web BlogJohn Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-44213807701359988882022-07-08T18:07:00.000-07:002022-07-08T18:07:05.579-07:00Costa Rica, December 26 2014 - January 2, 2015<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1422894949020_2111" style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">
<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Editor's note</b></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1422894949020_2111" style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b> </b></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1422894949020_2111" style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I started this blog post in 2015 and never published it and it has been languishing here unfinished. It is still unfinished, but I figured I'd go ahead and publish what I have. Since writing this I have made no new entries to this blog. I intend to rectify this and I will be making new entries from past adventures in the coming weeks. Stay posted!</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1422894949020_2111" style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b> <br /></b></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1422894949020_2111" style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Summary</b></span></div>
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<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This year my family - me, John - my wife Andie and our daughters Natalie (21<span class="yiv8864708085Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1422894949020_2106">) and Charlotte (17) decided to do something different to celebrate the holidays. Instead of the usual exchange of gifts leading to the exchange (as in going to the store returns) of gifts, we decided get a gift for the whole family - a family vacation. When deciding where to go we knew one thing for sure - we wanted it to be someplace warm to escape at least part of the New York winter. We knew that the Caribbean would be prohibitively expensive. I suggested possibly Key West. It was Natalie who suggested Costa Rica.</span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv8864708085Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1422894949020_2065"><span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">We did some research and booked our trip. We decided to leave right after Christmas and stay for 7 nights - December 26 to January 2. Andie found a reasonably priced two-bedroom condo in what looked like a very nice resort in the west coast town of Tamarindo - The Diria Tamarindo Resort. I booked flights into San Jose ( more on that later). I also booked a rental car and some other activities through the booking service's concierge (more on that later as well). </span></span></div>
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<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Costa Rica overview</b></span></div>
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<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Costa Rica is located in the southern part of Central America, nestled between Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south. Unlike its neighbors, Costa Rica has a stable government. This fact, along with the breathtaking scenery and the beautiful weather, has lead to a thriving tourist industry. This is truly a beautiful country with a tropical setting that rivals anything I've seen. The area is rife with volcanic activity as evidenced by the majestic cone shaped peaks covered in tropical foliage. Even on the Pacific Ocean side (where we stayed), the water is clear and warm. And there is none of the oil tar or other unpleasant things often found in Pacific waters. </span></div>
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<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On the downside, as you might expect, there is a lot of poverty. Even in the town where we stayed this was evident. Still, the people we met both in the resort as well as in our travels throughout the country we warm and welcoming and quick to smile. The only exception was a restaurant we stopped at on the way to our resort from the airport. The food was very good but the service was both slow (which we expected) and terse (which we did it).</span></div>
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<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Tamarindo overview</b></span></div>
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<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The resort we stayed in is in the resort town of Tamarindo on the west coast of costa Rica. It is a quaint little town with several shops and restaurants, and none of the skyscraper-like high rise hotels that clutter the beaches of larger resort towns. One thing we really appreciated was the complete lack of large international brand stores at are common in resort towns. Most of the businesses appear to be locally owned and run. Many of the small boutique shops sell wares made by local artisans. Of course there are the usual souvenir stores selling their cheap wares, not to mention street vendors hawking bird whistles, cigars and other knick-knacks as well. </span></div>
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<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In keeping with that small town feel, the infrastructure in Tamarindo is not up to American standards. This was not really an issue, just something I noticed. The highways leading to the town were actually pretty good - albeit almost exclusively two-lane highways. Once you get into town the roads become quite narrow and often are gravel once you leave the main playa. in addition, the sidewalks, where they even exist, are inconsistent and leave much to be desired. It looked to me that local business owners are responisible to put in sidewalks and many don't, while those that do, do so with varying success. </span></div>
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<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">That said, don't let the small town local charm fool you. This is, after all, a resort town and the prices reflect that fact. Goods from the local vendors, groceries and especially restaurant meals are very much priced in line with what you'd expect from any resort town. If you have a meal out you should expect fairly high - though not ridiculous - prices. As an example, we went to a local pizza place called Nari. We all ordered individual pizzas, salad and drinks. The total, including tip, came to about $140. Not something that would make you drop your jaw, but far from cheap. That said, the food we had in Costa Rica in general, and Tamarindo in particular, was, on the whole, quite good.</span></div>
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<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Except the beer. There are two main brands of beer in Costa Rica - Imperial and Pilsen. I'm not a big beer guy and I honestly don't like most beers. But I still know good from bad. Imperial is swill. Pilsen is not as bad, but still far from good. </span></div>
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<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Even a cold Imperial would taste good while sitting on the wonderful Tamarindo Beach. The beach's fine, hard-packed sand stretches for about 3 kilometers. It is bordered on the south by a natural outcropping and on the north by an inlet that separates the public beach from (name of a national park). There is a broad shelf and bathers can venture out very far while still being able to touch bottom - especially at low tide. The water, as I indicated earlier, is warm and clear. The only issues are the abundant surfers - many of them novices taking lessons from the many local surfing schools - who you need to watch out for and the large volcanic rocks that get exposed at low tide. My suggestion is to wait for high tide to go swimming if possible, and to look for a spot with few surfers. </span></div>
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<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Tamarindo Diria overview</b></span></div>
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<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The resort we stayed at was the Tamarindo Diria. I don't know anything about the development of the Development of the own of Tamarindo but I can tell you that the Diria is a dominant presence. The resort straddles the main highway through the center of town with a hotel on he beach side and a much larger condo complex across the street. </span></div>
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<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 24px;">The hotel has a restaurant (the only meal we had there was breakfast on our first day - it was a decent buffet style breakfast), a small but nice pool with pleasant landscaping, a kiddie pool, and a beach-side bar. </span></span></div>
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John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-76940357917275193082015-01-25T18:35:00.001-08:002015-01-25T18:35:46.697-08:00Pictures from Hong Kong DisneylandI wrote a blog post about my trip to Hong Kong Disneyland for <a href="http://www.wdwinfo.com/" target="_blank">The DIS</a>, to which I will post a link once it is published. In the meantime, here are some additional pictures from my trip:<br />
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<br />John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-65373510503565405012014-12-31T12:36:00.000-08:002014-12-31T12:36:10.476-08:00WDW Marathon trip planning part 3This will (probably) be my last post before my trip - even though I do have one last outstanding decision. I am writing this while sitting on the porch of our condo in Costa Rica. It's New Years Eve and I think I've had quite enough sun so I thought I'd make this last post before the big Florida trip. I'll be posting a write-up on Costa Rica in the next few days.<br />
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First, the final bits are in place. I put in a lunch reservation at Be Our Guest Restaurant at 1:00 on Tuesday. I also signed up for a Illuminations dessert party and "Bling Fest" (showing off race medals) sponsored by the <a href="http://www.mickeymilespodcast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span id="goog_372861408"></span>Mickey Miles Podcast<span id="goog_372861409"></span></a> on Sunday night after the marathon. This has necessitated my decision to upgrade to a park-hopper since Kirk and I will be in MK before the party. This is fine because its always more convenient to have a park-hopper. Finally, our wait list request for Old Key West came through. We were really hoping for this to happen because the rooms at OKW are signicantly larger and the studios have 2 beds instead of one bed and a fold-out sofa.<br />
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Lastly I did make changes to our FP+ reservations for Thursday after the 5k. I made a 9:25 reservation for "Mission Space" that we have no intention of using. I won't get to Epcot until about 11:00. We have "Soaring'" at 10:35 and "Nemo and Friends" at 11:35. This way we will have used all three FP+ reservations early enough to hopefully get one for "Test Track" later. That one last outstanding decision is whether to go to a breakfast meet-up on Thursday morning at Epcot. As of this writing I have not decided, although I think I have to decide soon. I'll see...<br />
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That's it. We are all set for our trip. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my Disney runner friends!John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-1886331776610396612014-11-14T19:35:00.000-08:002014-11-14T19:35:29.246-08:00WDW Marathon trip planning part 2A bit of an update on trip planning for my trip to Walt Disney World for the WDW Marathon weekend.<br />
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First, I purchased my pass. I got a 5-day single park pass. Because of my race schedule I am not planning any park hopping. In my previous post I mentioned that, if I wanted to park hop on Monday (the one day I might want to park-hop) I could always buy a sixth day. Turns out, I was informed by a reader that Disney does not allow that. No biggie, it just means no park hopping on Monday either. As I mentioned, Kirk has an AP so if he wants to park-hop while I'm doing the races he can do that.<br />
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Second, I was able to procure our FP+ reservations. I had heard that getting reservations for Toy Story Midway Mania, Soarin' and especially Seven Dwarfs Mine Train can be tough. So, I went online at midnight on the day they became available to procure those reservations. (And this was on a night when I had a 6AM flight the next morning - oh the things I will do for a perfect trip!) It was worth the effort, however, and I got exactly what I wanted. Here is a list of what I got:<br />
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<b>Wednesday January 7:</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>9:15 - 10:15: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror</li>
<li>10:15 - 11:15: Toy Story Midway Mania</li>
<li>11:15 - 12:15: Star Tours</li>
</ul>
<div>
Kirk does not like Star Tours so that will be me riding twice. We could not get a reservation for Rock 'n Roller Coaster because you have to chose between that and TSMM, and TSMM is harder to get. After we have done all 3 hopefully we can get a RnRC reservation for later.</div>
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<b>Thursday January 8:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>9:25 - 10:25: Mission Space</li>
<li>10:35 - 11:35: Soarin'</li>
<li>11:50 - 12:50: Character Meet & Greet</li>
</ul>
<div>
We actually won't be arriving until 11 (at least I won't). The MS ressie is just so that we go through our 3 reservations early enough to get a reservation later for Test Track (you can't do both Test Track and Soarin', and again Soarin' is harder to get)</div>
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<b>Friday January 9 & Saturday January 10:</b></div>
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<div>
No reservations as I won't be park touring. I told Kirk to let me know if he wants me to get any reservations for him.</div>
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<b>Sunday January 11:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>5:10 - 6:10: Space Mountain</li>
<li>6:20 - 7:20: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train</li>
<li>7:20 - 8:20: Pirates of the Caribbean</li>
</ul>
<div>
This is Marathon day and I won't get there until about 5. I talked to Kirk about it and offered to make separate reservations for him earlier, but he said he'd rather we use our reservations later together. The main thing was that we wanted to ride SDMT for the first time in the dark Mission accomplished.</div>
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<b>Monday January 12:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>9:20 - 10:20: Soarin'</li>
<li>10:20 - 11:20: The Seas with Nemo & Friends</li>
<li>11:20 - 12:02: Journey into Imagination</li>
</ul>
<div>
We may not use the Figment reservation. The important thing is to get a reservation for Test Track - and maybe even Soarin' again - later if we can.</div>
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<b>Tuesday January 13:</b></div>
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<li>9:45 - 10:45: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train</li>
<li>10:45 - 11:45: Space Mountain</li>
<li>11:45 - 12:45: Peter Pan Flight</li>
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I'm hoping we'll be able to get a reservation later for Enchanted Tales with Belle. We'll see.</div>
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I haven't changed all of the touring plans to reflect the FP+ reservations - I'm still playing aorund with that. All that's left for me to do is (hopefully) get a lunch reservation at Be Our Guest.</div>
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That's it for now!</div>
John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-46215809151804285182014-10-21T15:35:00.000-07:002014-10-21T16:10:19.019-07:00WDW Marathon trip planningWell, it's been over a year since my last blog post. Shame on me.<br />
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I have 2 things coming up that I plan to write about in the blog. The first is a trip to Costa Rica over the holidays with my family. We have plans to do some cool stuff while we're there, so I'll be sharing photos and thoughts from that trip. </div>
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Just 2 days after we get back from Costa Rica I'll be heading down with <a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-intro.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kirk </a>to Walt Disney World for a week. While there I will be participating in the <a href="http://www.rundisney.com/disneyworld-marathon/" target="_blank">WDW Marathon Weekend</a> events. In fact I will be participating in a big way as I will be participating in the Dopey Challenge. This involves running all 4 events over the course of 4 days - the 5K on Thursday, the 10K on Friday, the Half Marathon on Saturday and the Marathon on Sunday. That's a total of 48.6 miles in four days. I'll write about the races here, and I'll also get into more detail about the races in The Runner of a Certain Age Podcast. If you're interested in the podcast you can search for "runner of a certain age" in the iTunes Store or you can get them <a href="http://roacapod.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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What I really want to get into in this blog is to talk about planning for the WDW trip. Going to WDW requires more planning now than ever before. Or, I should say, there are more opportunities for planning than ever before - with Magic Bands, FASTPASS+ (FP+), MyDisneyExperience and all the new tools Disney offers. I won't be getting into any of that now, but rather I am going to assume that the reader is familiar with all this. If not, I suggest going to the Disney website or one of the non-Disney affiliated sites (my favorites are <a href="http://www.wdwinfo.com/" target="_blank">The DIS</a>, <a href="http://www.disboards.com/" target="_blank">DISBoards</a> and <a href="http://www.touringplans.com/" target="_blank">Touringplans</a>). There is a wealth of information available. </div>
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So let's get down to the nitty-gritty. First is an overall agenda. This is all tentative, especially depending on the FP+ reservations I am able to procure. </div>
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<b>Tuesday January 6:</b> Fly to Jacksonville. Scheduled arrival 10:37PM. Go straight to the hotel. </div>
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<b>Wednesday January 7:</b> Kirk picks me up early and we drive straight to WDW. Our Magic Bands should have arrived so we should be able to go straight to the park. Our park for the day is Disney Hollywood Studios (DHS - though that may change depending on my ability to procure FP+ reservations for Toy Story Midway Mania - TSMM). The crowd level is projected to be 5 (out of 10). We have an early lunch reservation for SciFi Dine-in (SFDI). I went to SFDI once with my family about <a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/thanksgiving-trip-to-walt-disney-world_1785.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">16 years ago</a> and was not thrilled, but Kirk's never been there and IMO it's someplace you should go to once. If we end up not doing DHS on this day I'll cancel the reservation. </div>
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I'll be leaving DHS early afternoon - probably be 2 at the latest - to go to the Marathon Expo so I can pick up my race packet and spend some time checking out the expo. I'll leave Kirk to his own devices. From there I'll head to Sanaa (and presumably meet back up with Kirk) for 5:45 dinner. This is one reservation we're most likely to cancel, I'm just not sure it will work into our schedule, but it is a restaurant we both want to try out. At some point we'll check into our resort - perhaps taking advantage of the automatic check-in. I also plan to request a specific building using the recommendations at the TouringPlans site. Our reservation is at Saratoga Springs but we are wait-listed at Old Key West. I am a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) member and reserved using points.<br />
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A final note - for each day that we are planning to tour the parks, I have created touring plans. I will publish my plans which should (theoretically) make them visible. I don't know if they can be viewed by someone who is not a TouringPlans subscriber - if you are not a subscriber please let me know whether you can see them. These touring plans are, obviously, "works in progress" (especially as we have not procured FP+ reservations yet). The touring plan for Wednesday at DHS can be found <a href="http://touringplans.com/plans/1072651" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<b>Thursday January 8:</b> First off is the 5K for me. The plan is to meet Kirk at Epcot after the race. I estimate I should be at the park by 11:00AM. We'll do counter service for lunch - probably Sunshine Seasons, a favorite of ours. (I also have a second SFDI lunch reservation for this day - in case we decide to do DHS on Thuesday instead of Wednesday.) The projected crowd level is 7. The touring plan for the day can be found <a href="http://touringplans.com/plans/1072693" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. We will probably leave the park 4-ish as we have a 6:00 reservation at Boma (a restaurant both Kirk and I have been meaning to try. Heck, I've never even seen the Animal Kingdom Lodge.) After dinner it's an early bedtime for me.<br />
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<b>Friday January 9: </b>10K to start off the day for me. I'll be leaving Kirk to his own devices as I do not intend to visit any parks. I'll probably relax at the resort and go to lunch at DTD (perhaps Earl of Sandwich - EoS). At 4:00 I'll be attending a meet-up of fellow Disney enthusiasts/runners who are members of a social media group that I am a member of at Disney's Pop Century Resort (POP). I won't be able to stay long as Kirk and I have an early dinner reservation at The Flying Fish at The Boardwalk. After that it'll be early to bed for me again.<br />
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<b>Saturday January 10:</b> I start the day with the Half Marathon. Other than that I'm planning a totally relaxing day for myself. I'll probably do both lunch and dinner at either the resort or DTD. I'll just hang out and rest up - recouping from the day's race while preparing for the final event on Sunday.<br />
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<b>Sunday January 11:</b> The big event - The Walt Disney World Marathon. Once I'm done I will (hopefully) have a total of 6 medals - one for each race plus the Goofy (for completing the Half and Full Marathons) as well as the Dopey for completing all four races. After eating my intention is to go back to the resort and relax for a couple of hours. I hope to have the energy to spend the evening at the parks (I use the Galloway method for running races and typically I recover pretty quickly so I think I'll be OK). My plan is to meet Kirk at the Magic Kingdom (MK). The projected crowd level is 3. <a href="http://touringplans.com/plans/1071257" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Here </a>is the touring plan. We'll probably do dinner at counter service, perhaps Pecos Bill's. MK is open late that night (until 11:00) - hopefully I'll be in good enough shape to stay until then. We'll see...<br />
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<b>Monday January 12:</b> First (and only, technically) all-day-in-the-parks day. As you can see from the previous days, there will be no park-hopping (at least not for me). Kirk has an annual pass (AP) so for him it's a moot point, but for me it made no sense to pay for park-hopping when I would only have this one opportunity to use it. So I intend to buy a 5-day regular pass with no park hopping. If, by chance, we decide we want to park hop this day, then I'll add a 6th day. Still cheaper than a park-hopper. Anyway, the plan is for Epcot all day. We have a lunch reservation at Le Cellier. Counter service - perhaps Tangerine Cafe - for dinner. The projected crowd level is 3.Touring plan <a href="http://touringplans.com/plans/1072251" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<b>Tuesday January 13: </b>Final day at WDW. The plan is to head back to MK. You may have noted that we do not intend to go to Disney's Animal Kingdom (AK) on this trip. We also did not go on our <a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/intro-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january-2013.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">previous trip</a>. In truth, the only "must do" for us at AK is Expedition Everest (EE). For me, with all the other stuff going on with the races (and I do anticipate more meet-ups of running groups to get announced) it simply does not make sense to take out the time to go to AK. I actually like the park, a lot, it just does not make sense this time around. Kirk can go whenever he likes - and he may choose to do so on this trip on his own. As for me, I'll be running through AK on the Marathon, so technically I will have visited. AND... last year the Marathon runners were allowed access to EE during the race. I really hope that happens again this year. The projected crowd level is 4. Touring plan <a href="http://touringplans.com/plans/1091182" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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In terms of pre-planning, here is where I am:<br />
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<li>Book room - done</li>
<li>Book flight - done</li>
<li>Create MyDisneyExperience account - done</li>
<li>Link resort to MyDisneyExperience - done</li>
<li>Link Kirk into MyDisneyExperience - done</li>
<li>Customize Magic Bands - done</li>
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To Do:</div>
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<li>Buy 5-day pass for me</li>
<li>Link our passes to MyDisneyExperience</li>
<li>Make FP+ reservations</li>
<li>Change Touring Plans in accordance with FP+ reservations</li>
<li>Fingers crossed that waiting list request for Old Key West comes through</li>
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That's it. Tuesday night we drive back to Jacksonville. I'll spend the night there and I have an early flight home Wednesday. Please feel free to comment on this plan. I'd love the feedback!</div>
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John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-36900980570125804382013-08-24T20:29:00.001-07:002013-08-25T11:50:52.576-07:00John & Kirk's Epic Trip Out West Part 3 - D23 Expo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Finally it had arrive - our main reason for scheduling this trip, The 2013 D23 Expo. I had done a lot of research, as well as quizzing the podcast team, so I thought I had at least an idea of what to expect. One bit of advice I heard over and over was "plan, plan, plan". Know what you want to do, but have a backup plan in case that doesn't work out. On Thursday Kirk and I went through the program and prioritized what we felt was the most important. A priority for us was seeing the original Imagineers - Tony Baxter, Marty Sklar and Bob Gurr in particular.<br />
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Additionally, we wanted to see as much as we could that was related to Imagineering and the parks in general.<br />
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To keep things a bit simple I will describe the layout of the expo. The expo covered a total of three floors of the Anaheim Convention Center. The first floor - by far the largest, included the main expo floor which housed all the exhibits from different divisions of Disney, the shopping venues (including the Dream Store with expo merchandise, the Disney Store, Mickey's of Glendale with merchandise usually only available to Imagineers, and the Collector's Forum featuring small kioskes manned by vendors selling Disney collectibles), the Stage Pass distribution (more on that below) and the main arena and overflow area. The second floor included Stage 28 (the smaller of the two seminar venues), The Treasures of the Walt Disney Archive and the D23 Charter Member lounge. The third floor had Stage 23 - the larger of the seminar venues.<br />
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One of the changes for 2013 was the addition of "Stage Pass". This is a lot like Fastpass at the Disney parks. The idea was that you get a Stage Pass and this guarantees you a spot in a particular seminar, releasing you from the need to line up at the event itself. These passes were only available for events in Stage 23 and Stage 28, and only the shows later in the morning and afternoon (late morning session Stage Passes were available first thing, later afternoon passes were available at noon). For me and Kirk, not only did we know what to expect on account of this being our first expo, nobody really knew what to expect in terms of the Stage Passes. We arrived at the expo at 7:00. There were a couple of lines and we were not sure which we should get in. If anything, I was expecting lines for the Stage Passes, but no such thing existed. I asked around and got different answers from different people. There were volunteers wearing red shirts. They were friendly enough, but often they did not know what they were talking about. Anyway, eventually we figured out that we needed to get in the line that was going to the main expo floor, and that the Stage Pass distribution was on the main expo floor.<br />
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There were a couple of different lines. There was the line we were in for the main expo floor. There was another expo line for non-D23 members (which we never saw). There was also a line to get into the arena - we never saw that either. While in line we chatted to 2 other couples. One of the gentlemen's names was Kent - and I have to admit I don't recall the other's names. One interesting thing, Kent made a comment (about Starbucks, in fact) that made me realize that we probably did not see "eye to eye" politically. I said I understood what he meant and that it was something that we probably disagreed on, and I said "So let's not talk about that, let's talk about Disney!".<br />
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They finally started letting people in about 9:00. This brings me to what is probably my biggest complaint about the expo - they let folks into the building in a single file. This took forever. Then, once we got inside, we stood in another line. Finally we made our way through to the main expo floor. The first thing for us was to get a Stage Pass for "Undiscovered Disneyland" with Tony Baxter and Imagineer Josh Shipley. I really did not know what to expect - I had no idea how many Stage Passes were being distributed and whether we were early in the line, or toward the end of the line, or whether they would run out before we got there. Well, we did get there and did get our Stage Passes, and judging by the stack that I saw there we were in no risk of being too late.<br />
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Stage Passes in hand for the later show, we headed to one of the first presentations of the expo: "Mayhem, Mischief, and Monkeys: The Magic of Mystic Manor" hosted by Imagineers Joe Lanzisero and Mark Schirmer. This presentation went through the details of Mystic Manor - Hong Kong Disneyland's all-new (and very cutting edge) dark ride. This ride uses some pretty amazing technology including the same trackless ride system used on Pooh (and other attractions) in Tokyo Disneyland and some really cool effects combining state-of-the-art projection technology with Disney's audio-anamatronics. All this and a musical score by Danny Elfman. And a monkey named Albert. I mean, really. In reality the presentation didn't just go through Mystic Manor in great detail (I think we ended up seeing footage of pretty much the entire ride), it also went through Mystic Point (the new "land" which plays host to Mystic Manor) and all of the cool things to do there. Besides the signature attraction this includes The Garden of Wonders, an interactive area highlighting what look to be some very interesting illusions, and the Mystic Point Freight Depot, which contains some of the oddities that have been brought back to Mystic Point by it's eccentric owner Lord Henry Mystic. In fact, the Imagineers went to great pains to illustrate the level of detail that they went into in developing a back story for Mystic Point. The back story even has ties to The Adventurer's Club!<br />
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An interesting thing that the Imagineers pointed out was that they developed three small "lands" (Toy Story Land and Grizzly Gulch along with Mystic Point) because guests in Hong Kong feel like they get more "bang for the buck" with three small lands than they would have with one big one (like "New Fantasyland").<br />
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After the presentation we checked out the Charter Member Lounge (no big deal) and the silent auction. There were a lot of cool things in the silent auction, but the one that really got our attention was a giant, electric "Disneyland Park" sign. Could you imagine having a really big house with a huge family space with that thing hung on the wall? How cool would that be? The bidding was up to $580 and I said that I doubted it would go for less than $5,000. In fact Kirk later told me that he went back later and saw that the bidding had, indeed, gone over $5,000. I'm not sure how much it eventually went for.<br />
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Next up was "Undiscovered Disneyland" with soon-to-be Disney Legend Tony Baxter and Imagineer Josh Shipley. This would end up being my favorite presentation of the expo. Tony got up and talked about how they had done similar presentations at previous expos and how they wanted to do something a bit different. So, he said that this presentation might better be titled "Re-discovered Disneyland". He and Josh then went on to show some wonderful old photos and home movies of Disneyland. I absolutely love this stuff. Depending on when they were taken, the photos and film can either remind me of how Disneyland was when I was a kid or give a glimpse into the Disneyland that was already in the past by the time I went for the first time in 1967. I think that perhaps the biggest surprise for me was how funny they both were - but especially Tony. One thing they focused on for a few minutes was the long-defunct "Holidayland", a Disney-owned and operated playground and picnic area right next to Disneyland. Tony and Josh talked about how there you would be, close enough that you could hear the whistle from the Mark Twain, but all you could do was go down a slide and have sack races. Priceless.<br />
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The highlights of the presentation were at the end. First, they presented a "ride through" film of "Journey into Imagination" (yes, the original) which they compiled by melding the soundtrack with photos, drawings and even some old footage of the ride itself. It was a very cool nostalgic trip. They even had a picture of a bunch of Imagineers (including Tony) testing out this thing they had at the end of the ride that superimposed your picture over another setting - very high tech for 1983.) Finally, Tom Staggs - chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts - came out and praised Tony and his career at Disney. He then announced that, not only would Tony be becoming a Disney Legend (which we all obviously knew), but that he would also be presented with a window on Main street in Disneyland. He then did something really cool - he announced that 3 people from the audience would be selected to go to the ceremony. They dimmed the lights and spotlights came up on the three lucky guests. None was me, unfortunately.<br />
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Next up we wanted to get Stage passes for "Disney Imagineering Legend Marty Sklar Presents… Dream It! Do It!". We were late to get the passes and were afraid that we might miss out. And, in fact, right after we got ours they announced that they were all gone! Whew!<br />
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I'd like to touch on some of the costumes we saw folks wearing. I was very impressed. I actually expected to see more costumes, but the ones I saw were very high quality. Perhaps the best was a young lady dressed as the main character from "Enchanted" - sorry, I don't recall the characters name. However, I did later note that a picture of her ended up on the main D23 expo page. There were also several Mirida's and most of the men were dressed as Flynn Rider. And I also ran into a very awesome Jack Skellington!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queen Amadala</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sally</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack</td></tr>
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For the first time all morning we had the chance to take in the expo floor. This place was amazing! An absolute Disney geeks dream! There were booths from all of the major divisions. Some, granted, we did not really care about (like the Disney Channel stuff), but there were presentations on upcoming films, a huge Parks and Resorts area called "Journey into Imagineering", a big stage, lots of places to shop and, right in the middle, a mysterious area covered with a blue tarp.<br />
<br />
Of the shopping areas the one that seemed to have the longest line was, fortunately, the one we were least interested in - The Disney Store. Peeking in it did look like it had some cool stuff, but not so cool as to justify an hour wait on line. Instead we headed to the Dream Store.<br />
<br />
This store had all the D23 Expo merchandise. There was a line but it went quickly. The store was also pretty crowded, but they had lots of cashiers so you could get out pretty quickly once you made your selection. I was looking for one thing only: a t-shirt. It's really the only thing I collect. I have to say - I was not really all that thrilled with the selection of T's. I settled on one that was sort of a grey color with a silhouette of Mickey and a logo stating "D23 Expo 2013". Nice, but I'm not totally thrilled with it. Still, getting a T for the event was a must-do for me, and that was my favorite of the ones I saw, so I got it. We both also picked up a copy of Marty Sklar's book "Dream It! Do It!", hoping to get the author to autograph it later.<br />
<br />
We were both hungry so we decided to have lunch. There were some lunch trucks outside the arena, and after looking at their menus we decided on one with a pulled pork sandwich. We both got the same thing. Holy Cow. This would end up being one of the best meals of the trip. Absolutely delicious! Unfortunately I don't recall the name of the truck - I should have noted it but I didn't. I do think that the owner of the truck - a very large man with a shaved head - might be on one of those food channel shows or something because a little girl said she wanted a picture with him and I had the sense he was somewhat well known. Anyway, the sandwich was amazing. The pork was tendter, the bun was frech, the sauce was mild and very tasty and they also put a dollop of cole slaw on the sandwich which gave it extra zing. Wow.<br />
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After that it was time for "Disney Imagineering Legend Marty Sklar Presents… Dream It! Do It!". I have to say, as great as it was to hear Marty tell stories, this was not my favorite. Marty was actually quite charming and often funny, and I can't wait to read his book, but his presentation was really mostly an extended ad for his book. Still, he did talk about one thing that was quite funny - his propensity for showing up, barely visible, in the back of photographs of famous people. he showed several examples. Quite fun.<br />
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After the presentation we got in line to get his autograph. We were given strict instructions to hand the book to him opened to the title page, and were informed that he would not be doing any personalized signatures. Still, we were at least able to get a picture of both of us with him. We had hoped to get Stage Passes for "Broadway & Beyond… Celebrating the Stars of Disney on Broadway", but my Expo iPhone app informed me that the passes were already gone before we got out of the Marty Sklar presentation.<br />
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We then split up with Kirk going to a local 7/11 and me heading off to the Collector's Forum. I had sent a text to Annette from Mousefan Travel asking where she was because she told me she was going to be manning a booth and I said I'd stop by. Turns out she was in the collector's forum, right next to where some folks were broadcasting live for WDW Radio. I felt a bit sorry for her because she had to listen to the non-stop chatter from the broadcast but she seemed to be taking it in stride. I had told Kirk I would meet him there so I stuck around, talking to other Disney fans as well as some of the Mousefan Travel folks, and listening to the broadcast. Once Kirk came back we headed off to explore the Collector's Forum. I'm not much of a collector so I was not tempted to buy, although Kirk is more of a collector and I could tell that he could have caused some serious damage had he not showed some self-control. At any rate he did spy a few things that he said he might pick up later. The one thing that did tempt me was a Cast Member badge with my name on it for $15 at the Theme Park Connection booth. I assumed "John" would be an easy one to find, but the guy at the booth told me that the common names were actually harder because they are more in demand. The name badge did have "John" on it, but the logo was the modern "Disneyland Resort" logo and I didn't like it. In retrospect, for $15, I should have gotten it. Of course what I <i>really</i> want is "B'rer John".<br />
<br />
After leaving the dream store we called it a night. I had to get up early for a "long run" so I headed back to the room. Kirk went out again and I was asleep by the time he got back. We had agreed that he would get in the line at about 7:00 the next morning and that I would join him once I was done with my run. Our first day at the expo was a rousing success!<br />
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Day 2 of the expo, for me at least, started with a long run. In my training plan I was scheduled for 14 miles but I got a bit of a late start. Still, when I left the room about 4:45 I was a bit confused by the line of people outside - it took me a minute to realize they were lined up for the expo. I won't get into details about the run - I have a running blog and in a few days I should have something up there - I will say that I started getting worried that they would let folks in earlier than they had the day before so I ended up cutting the run short a bit and I ended up doing about 11 1/4 miles.<br />
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After showering and changing I joined Kirk in line at a bit before 8. Even though indications were that this would be a busier day than the first day, Kirk was much further up in the line than we had been at the same time on Friday.<br />
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First up was Stage passes for "Charles Phoenix Presents". I had heard a lot about Charles Phoenix but never had a chance to see him so I was really excited about this presentation.<br />
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Kirk then went to get some food while I got in line for "Let the Adventures Begin: Live Action atThe Walt Disney Studios" which was happening in the Arena. The plan was for Kirk to call me when he was done getting food and I would tell him where I was so he could join me. This plan was foiled when they made us put our phones in plastic bags to prevent us from taking pictures. I figured Kirk would make his way in - but I found out later that he got there too late to get in (which more than likely would have meant that he would not have been able to join me anyway.) At any riet I was too late for the main arena and got into the overflow room. This room, which held I would say 2 or 3 thousand people and had 5 giant screens. Honestly, IMO it turned out to be a fine - albeit a lot less exciting - way to view the presentation.<br />
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The host of the presentation was Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. The first thing he did was to talk about the major acquisitions that Disney has made including Pixar, Marvel and, of course, Lucasfilm. He started with Lucasfilm and talked a bit about Star Wars, including the fact they JJ Abrams is "hard at work" on episode 7. He also talked about how they were planning additional films, with different characters and alternate story lines.<br />
<br />
He then moved on to Marvel.<br />
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First up: Thor 2 (Thor: The Dark World). They showed a trailer and a new, unfinished scene where Natalie Portman's character arrives in Asgard (Thor's world). Thor was one of my daughter's favorite movies of the Marvel films, and her favorite character is Loki (yes, I know, he's the bad guy). And Charlotte is completely enamored of Tom Hiddleston, who plays Loki. Thor 2 looks really good I must say - I'm really looking forward to it. I know a lot of folks didn't care for the first Thor movie but I found it to be quite entertaining. After showing the trailer Horn introduced Tom Hiddleston (judging by the reception I'm guessing that my daughter is not the only one with a fan-girl crush), Natalie Portman (who looks an awful lot like my other daughter) and, most surprising of all, Sir Anthony Hopkins.<br />
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Next up was Captain America 2 (Captain America: The Winter Soldier). Again, they showed a trailer and an unfinished scene (this one was very rough and involved an attack on a ship) as well as a very cool scene that involved Cap taking out about 6 guys in an elevator. I have to say that this movie looks absolutely awesome. Again Horn introduced some cast members including the Captain himself - Chris Evans. Also there was Sabastian Stan (The Winter Soldier) and Anthony Mackie (The Falcon). Mackie - who I think I recognize and is perhaps a comedian? - was particularly charming and funny.<br />
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They then showed a scene from a new Marvel Movie called "Guardians of the Galaxy" that looks like it might be really fun (I mean, a super hero raccoon! What's not to love?). Finally they showed a teaser for Avengers 2 which, if nothing else, confirmed that Iron Man will, indeed, be back.<br />
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After that I had to leave to get to the Charles Phoenix presentation. I got in line and called Kirk, but by the time he got there he was not able to meet me on line No big problem, though, I simply saved a seat for him. Charles Phoenix is a pop culture historian and comedian. I had heard many accounts about how funny his presentations are. And he did not disappoint. Basically he showed a bunch of old Disneyland photos and gave a very funny rambling commentary. A large portion of the show was dedicated to the motels that can be found surrounding Disneyland, comparing pictures of how they looked originally and how they look now. Phoenix lamented that the new designs were not nearly as interesting as the original designs, and I have to agree. the only hotel that still looks pretty much the same is The Alpine Lodge. Of course now you see the backside of Ornament Valley looming behind the property. If you ever get a chance to see Charles Phoenix (most of his shows are not about Disneyland) I would highly recommend it.<br />
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Charles Phoenix was scheduled to end at 1:00. From there our plan was to go to the arena for "Disney Legends Awards Ceremony" which was at 2:00, with hopes of getting into the main room not the overflow room. Well, Mr. Phoenix ran over and did not finish until 1:30. We dashed over to the arena and got in line as they were letting folks in. As we approached it looked like they were still loading into the main arena. About a dozen people ahead of us, one of the staff members started counting people. I thought to myself "I don't know what he's counting, but I want to make sure that we are among the people he counts!" so I made sure that we were in the right place to be counted. Sure enough we were one of the last he counted and we were ushered into the main arena - and put in the third row! Amazing! We were among the last to get into the arena and apparently we were used to fill a row that (I'm guessing) was reserved for VIPs. Awesome!<br />
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The ceremony, hosted by Tom Bergeron and Disney CEO Bob Iger. It was a wonderful ceremony to watch and I was struck by how sincerely humbled the recipients seemed. Here is a list of the recipients in the order that they were presented (as best as I recall):<br />
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<br />
<ul>
<li>The aforementioned Tony Baxter - as charming as ever. What a great guy.</li>
<li>Animator and Imagineer Collin Campbell - hs son accepted the award and told some charming stories including the fact that one of his father's works in hanging in the bathroom at Tangaroa Terrace.</li>
<li>Actor John Goodman - I must confess that when I heard this I questioned why he was getting this honor, but when they went through his career I was taken by his long relationship with Disney including ABC and Touchstone Films. He seemed genuinely touched by the honor.</li>
<li>Actor and comedian Billy Crystal - I had less of an issue with Billy Crystal getting the honor, but in fact I know think that his relationship with Disney is not as strong as Goodman's. He also seemed very touched, and was also (of course) very funny.</li>
<li>Actor and comedian Ed Wynn - his daughter accepted the award and her speech was very classy.</li>
<li>TV icon Dick Clark - his wife accepted. Also a touching, classy speech.</li>
<li>Legendary animator Glen Keane - this was one I was really looking forward to. I have admired Keane's work for years. He gave a very interesting speech, revealing that he only got into animation when he was placed in the wrong department at CalArts! Lucky for us!</li>
<li>And finally tech icon and visionary Steve Jobs - John Lassiter accepted the award in what was a heartfelt and emotional speech. "When I lost my brother" Lassiter confided, "Steve became my brother." Not a dry eye in the house.</li>
</ul>
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An absolutely fantastic presentation. I know that a lot of folks have sadi that it paled when compared to last years ceremony, but no complaints from me.<br />
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After leaving the Legends ceremony we saw that a line for "Richard M. Sherman and Alan Menken: The Disney Songbook" was already forming. We got in the line but, after some deliberation, we decided we did not want to stand on line for 2 1/2 hours. So we got out of line and went out to get something to eat. We ended up going to the food court at the Hyatt.<br />
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Upon returning to the expo we got back in line for the concert. We ended up in the overflow room - not ideal but it was fine (although the vibe in the room was very different). The concert was fantastic. Richard Sherman was charming and energetic as he went through his extensive playlist of Disney songs. Menken came out after and did the same. A couple of difference I found interesting. First, Sherman shared the stage with a gentlemen (sorry, I don't recall his name) and they had a nice banter going back and forth while Menken was on by himself. Also, Sherman played his music from memory while Menken used sheet music (although I got the sense it was mostly there to remind him what to play). The show went a fair bit over but I don't think anyone was complaining. For the finally they shared the stage and both played "world" songs - Menken played "A Whole New World" from Aladdin and then he joined in with Sherman (and most of the audience) for - you guessed it - "It's a Small World". A terrific show and I loved seeing it - even from the overflow room.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUAFR2qbufnHpemSrKRM_xwyyvlUYDqAQdGZnEYH1eeN5DXoHstxyP2P0homlUPuhfQ97kKWQ33w7W4KAm1bzqiXqg56M3zCYhZlTOtJYyPsfiT6pITejLQ2AdwV3MYGOxlB38Hglt2MI/s1600/IMG_1812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUAFR2qbufnHpemSrKRM_xwyyvlUYDqAQdGZnEYH1eeN5DXoHstxyP2P0homlUPuhfQ97kKWQ33w7W4KAm1bzqiXqg56M3zCYhZlTOtJYyPsfiT6pITejLQ2AdwV3MYGOxlB38Hglt2MI/s400/IMG_1812.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sherman</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Menken</td></tr>
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In the blog entry about the Disneyland portion of our trip I mentioned that the Cast Member who checked us in told us about a viewing porch in the DVC building where you can watch World of Color. After the concert Kirk and I decided to check it out. We parked in the Downtown Disney lot and walked to the Grand Californian. I wasn't sure if the door to the porch would be locked, and if it was I was not sure if our old room key would open it. Well, it was locked and our key did indeed work. I went down to the bar and got a glass of wine, and we watched the show from the porch. It was nice seeing the show for the fourth time, but I would not recommend this as a way to see the show unless you've already seen it. The viewing is from the side and above so you don't really see some of the effects and the sound is not as good. Still, it was nice to see the show again and it was actually interesting to see it from this vantage point.<br />
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That was it for day 2 at D23 - another action-packed day!<br />
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For day 3 it was my turn to wait on line while Kirk slept in. While waiting for coffee at the Starbucks in the hotel lobby I actually ran into legendary Imagineer Bob Gurr! I said "hi" to him and shook his hand. "I must have shaken about ten thousand hands this weekend!" he said to me. I was not surprised. I went to take a picture but realized I left my phone in the room. I ran up to et it but by the time I returned he was gone. I tweeted "Bob Gurr this morning at Starbucks - shook his hand. No pic - left my phone in room". I then got some coffee and headed out to get in line.<br />
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Day 3 of the D23 Expo was dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Walt Disney Imagineering, and as such there were several presentations centered around Imagineering. Interestingly, although this was the area that interested me and Kirk most, the only presentation that we were extremely interested was the first: "Walt Disney Imagineering’s 60th: Working with Walt". After filing into the presentation hall I looked up on the screen to see that my text from that morning was one of the texts that they were displaying on a big screen (they displayed texts throughout the day in the presentation halls). This panel discussion, lead by Marty Sklar, featured Imagineers who had worked with Walt telling stories of their experiences. They included Bob Gurr, Alice Davis and X Atencio. It was a bit difficult because, obviously, they are all aging and - Atencio in particular - had a hard time speaking. Still, they had many fascinating stories to tell and it was thrilling to listen to such legendary Imagineers and to get the chance to see them in person. A highlight for me was hearing X Atencio actually singing the Pirates of the Caribbean song - which he wrote.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">X Atencio</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alice Davis</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqq0xxtr0yKbyJw6ma5ZEV23ITR-RezBFl-pjTvuAtm71D4AIHRxIZMsBEoO67DNn3bIwtygiy-MDs3a8n8xCZxYOFHfyz8jgjdT6Fn7ZUtjvODus9e50s7bQz-5PWVix_V2ct1Po7NM/s1600/IMG_1833.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqq0xxtr0yKbyJw6ma5ZEV23ITR-RezBFl-pjTvuAtm71D4AIHRxIZMsBEoO67DNn3bIwtygiy-MDs3a8n8xCZxYOFHfyz8jgjdT6Fn7ZUtjvODus9e50s7bQz-5PWVix_V2ct1Po7NM/s640/IMG_1833.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob Gurr (and Alice Davis)</td></tr>
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<br />
As I mentioned, that first presentation was the only one we had a strong desire to see. Additionally, we had not really been able to explore the expo floor all that much. So we decided we would spend most of the final day checking out stuff on the floor. I had eaten at Starbuck's but Kirk had not eaten yet so he went off to get something to eat while I started to explore.<br />
<br />
Earlier I had eluded to a mysterious area on the floor that was covered by a blue tarp. The tarp had been removed, revealing a large section labeled "Tomorrowland". It looked intriguing so I went to get in the line. There was a staff member with a sign that read "End of Line - Ask me about FastPass". "OK" I thought, "I'll take the bait", so I asked about FastPass. He handed me a ticket with a return time of about an hour later printed on it. I asked for another and he gave it to me. I then walked around the Collector's Forum where I picked up a free book about planning luxury Disney vacations from a travel agency called "Glass Slipper Concierge". I also saw the booth manned by Russel Flores, author of "Seen Unseen Disneyland". This was a book I had been meaning to get so I picked up a copy and had the author sign it.<br />
<br />
I then met up with Kirk and pointed out that they were offering Stage Passes for that day's presentations, which initially was not going to be the case. I suggested we get passes for "Walt Disney Imagineering’s 60th: Leave ‘em Laughing", which sounded like it might be fun. So we picked them up and headed to the Tomorrowland exhibit as our Fastpass time was up.<br />
<br />
The Tomorrowland exhibit was interesting but very confusing. It was all about a mysterious case labeled "1952" that was found in the bowels of one of the Disney buildings. It contained a bunch of cryptic and seemingly unrelated items - newspaper articles and notes from Imagineers and such - that seemed to indicate that Walt had been planning a second "Progress City" somewhere in secret. It was set up as if it was all true - which of course it is not. It all appears to be part of a marketing campaign for the Brad Bird film "Tomorrowland" which is currently in development. If the plan was to build interest in the film, it certainly worked for me. I am very intrigued.<br />
<br />
From there we headed to the Parks and Resorts exhibit "Journey into Imagineering". This was an exhibit we both were very interested in, but had not yet had the chance to visit. There was a line to get into the exhibit but it was only about 15 or 20 minutes long. Upon entering the exhibit we were shuttled into a room where we were shown a short and very well done presentation about the history of Imagineering. The large doors then opened and we were ushered into the main hall. Inside there were many exhibits focusing on different Imagineering projects including Avatar (which had a cool display featuring what looked like an Imagineer's office), Star Wars (a bunch of crates marked "Orange Harvest" - a nod to the secret working title of "Return of the Jedi") and the new Magic Bands that are being rolled out in Walt Disney World. There were also lots of really cool models that had been used over the years for designing attractions. This exhibit was one of the highlights of the expo for me.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying Navi gear on for size</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7imefb3lUjkJ-DwyMko2BfqyyeO6goxwVdjBaLmOejCHUn1z6CL3g9pGrtZt5eyXTYRXASSbSo8m0Wbijhk1oBifp9bL8VfoG4MsNJYgoug9hltraBLcwab2malxCsFFvRgqNdLAJL3Y/s1600/IMG_1839.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7imefb3lUjkJ-DwyMko2BfqyyeO6goxwVdjBaLmOejCHUn1z6CL3g9pGrtZt5eyXTYRXASSbSo8m0Wbijhk1oBifp9bL8VfoG4MsNJYgoug9hltraBLcwab2malxCsFFvRgqNdLAJL3Y/s400/IMG_1839.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avatar Display</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Model for Western River <span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Expedition</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Model for the new Disney Springs in WDW</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOsfK85uiKD8_Qbr-RxPYCy-c0p5lrEq_hc0NGooCDud3bdbxvZdq_qJ7lvaGh2o7z5tQcFVw4kJBlMEPFxsVz7aNSD8puxJ3x_4HY5xtPRd4Sj8c0DpAqXqVfQoXMWk930CkdfQILS8/s1600/IMG_1847.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOsfK85uiKD8_Qbr-RxPYCy-c0p5lrEq_hc0NGooCDud3bdbxvZdq_qJ7lvaGh2o7z5tQcFVw4kJBlMEPFxsVz7aNSD8puxJ3x_4HY5xtPRd4Sj8c0DpAqXqVfQoXMWk930CkdfQILS8/s400/IMG_1847.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mystic Manor exhibit</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOja-T4j_p34Nfry-YPJvQ3-5ZZPcTJxUr7nfkPqMg0VoWV_wrw3Nwwoa6DJ_mDH0amj8-84AuAHWBJh2qF8NngMdxZi2MVpRtpDMlbkosJuXoF6vRpmOZrJOOcoiy0NS_tioxCrEN7hw/s1600/IMG_1850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOja-T4j_p34Nfry-YPJvQ3-5ZZPcTJxUr7nfkPqMg0VoWV_wrw3Nwwoa6DJ_mDH0amj8-84AuAHWBJh2qF8NngMdxZi2MVpRtpDMlbkosJuXoF6vRpmOZrJOOcoiy0NS_tioxCrEN7hw/s400/IMG_1850.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original model for "The Land" pavilion at Epcot</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwoUyLFtlVLkrBGrjF13SWSlC20QjgnVzLybhVfMGzrubAIVbb6YuOBwALkOJ1ObNCnKbXF_gau-PMCFWbhNf5fz5ISoyzpyGthjIH86Mk7BwXYLyBRbqmpoy3MlHL3BzwutMz6fEomsA/s1600/IMG_1849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwoUyLFtlVLkrBGrjF13SWSlC20QjgnVzLybhVfMGzrubAIVbb6YuOBwALkOJ1ObNCnKbXF_gau-PMCFWbhNf5fz5ISoyzpyGthjIH86Mk7BwXYLyBRbqmpoy3MlHL3BzwutMz6fEomsA/s400/IMG_1849.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Land</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYzpdEcECpkKdx4v8CGVtwfBrJQ2waglFRNqYV_vWHnvepqwNsPWRthFv_FrTXRZZTjs_ljmA87Kt57EODt1pdWAi6YgZBBJMirNvTxG22iRa_12d4QUZijOxhZLhv-T2OwRFV20MoDZc/s1600/IMG_1848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYzpdEcECpkKdx4v8CGVtwfBrJQ2waglFRNqYV_vWHnvepqwNsPWRthFv_FrTXRZZTjs_ljmA87Kt57EODt1pdWAi6YgZBBJMirNvTxG22iRa_12d4QUZijOxhZLhv-T2OwRFV20MoDZc/s400/IMG_1848.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original model for Spaceship Earth at Epcot</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEafb863HuQLdRW2uMihyphenhyphen8s3KUAzdIhwo8oazOi6eXoUs_caGXnLefsTifSVfbVgJmK1nlDQiyAzHue1Hs64oKeZc1ljn6HzAGm2qGNGHCKGlKZUCdfvHwkCBiMjdRotL7r6d76WDfND8/s1600/IMG_1851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEafb863HuQLdRW2uMihyphenhyphen8s3KUAzdIhwo8oazOi6eXoUs_caGXnLefsTifSVfbVgJmK1nlDQiyAzHue1Hs64oKeZc1ljn6HzAGm2qGNGHCKGlKZUCdfvHwkCBiMjdRotL7r6d76WDfND8/s400/IMG_1851.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early International Street Model</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0wSw2ipD2_ZiRXSl54wSseW_RKY8y-LzpK3-VXiDx6qJeYLd6mF-Py1juN5LPkaB8maJnjModwCsYxAlYGkIPLNi-iGi4R9rllhfdFjyZX1bq595cobpv6fzO00g5xOY5-xF9DA0lqHk/s1600/IMG_1846.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0wSw2ipD2_ZiRXSl54wSseW_RKY8y-LzpK3-VXiDx6qJeYLd6mF-Py1juN5LPkaB8maJnjModwCsYxAlYGkIPLNi-iGi4R9rllhfdFjyZX1bq595cobpv6fzO00g5xOY5-xF9DA0lqHk/s640/IMG_1846.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and R2D2</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ncvDJhkZilKtgp9JicG07DzEqHsi5aq5odRyBN7Gz6tWJ5wi2LilCvEja0RcWSVvEMwLHbmdTb4D7TvhFaKDfwlxsArItqAPuzJJPpF6pxdto-h4dbhbqFkz3djNIudsM75C4NN_iwk/s1600/IMG_1853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ncvDJhkZilKtgp9JicG07DzEqHsi5aq5odRyBN7Gz6tWJ5wi2LilCvEja0RcWSVvEMwLHbmdTb4D7TvhFaKDfwlxsArItqAPuzJJPpF6pxdto-h4dbhbqFkz3djNIudsM75C4NN_iwk/s400/IMG_1853.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mickey's House</td></tr>
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<br />
We then went to the "Mickey's of Glendale" store - featuring merchandise usually only available to Imagineers. There was a lot of interesting merchandise, and I noticed that a lot of it was actually sort of cheap. And I mean that both in the good and bad sense. Some of the items<br />
<br />
seemed cheaply made, but the prices were surprisingly low (by Disney standards). I really wanted an Imagineering t-shirt and I saw several designs I liked. Unfortunately my favorite - featuring the old WED logo - was made of very cheap material. (WED was the original name of Imagineering). The thing was, I also found a Tommy Bahama style shirt with the "Walt Disney Imagineering" logo that I really liked. I deliberated for some time and decided on the Tommy Bahama style shirt. I also bought a water mug and a pin. Kirk bought a t-shirt, pencil and the same pin.<br />
<br />
By the time we got out of Mickey's of Glendale we were too late for "Leave 'em Laughing so we missed that. One thing that had been offered each night was to have Bill Rogers, the "Voice of Disneyland", record a voice-mail message for you. This was something I wanted to I got in line for that while Kirk went back to the Collector's Forum (he bought 2 posters). We were told that those of us in the part of the line I was in might not be able to get our voice-mail messages recorded, but I got through no problem. Mr Rogers asked me what I liked best about Disneyland and I said "The Haunted Mansion". So, he recorded a message with a Haunted Mansion theme. Very fun.<br />
<br />
Well, that was it for us for the D23 expo. We had wanted to see "Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives" but didn't get to it. Other than that we saw most of what we wanted to see. This was an absolutely amazing experience and I really hope to be able to come back in 2015 - assuming they have it (which as of now they are saying that they will). As much as I enjoyed experiencing this with my buddy Kirk, I would also really love to come with my daughter some day.<br />
<br />
After leaving the expo we went to The Garden Walk for dinner, where we ended up going to McCormick and Schlick. This dinner was delicious. I had an awesome wedge salad and a very good trout. Kirk had a bisque that he said was very good.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx57WY-2Ql3GA5XpleAY2SHSOINjWSKwM8cEyesDJ1V7oTHztCHhOEPPG8TMTQT6iGrpEfKnmenYyvMG6k9QwfYn1sJLeEjUb2iCpqbtrDjXdq7-lS_-dmx1TuVaKVH9ueekXmdd1Cn-s/s1600/IMG_1857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx57WY-2Ql3GA5XpleAY2SHSOINjWSKwM8cEyesDJ1V7oTHztCHhOEPPG8TMTQT6iGrpEfKnmenYyvMG6k9QwfYn1sJLeEjUb2iCpqbtrDjXdq7-lS_-dmx1TuVaKVH9ueekXmdd1Cn-s/s640/IMG_1857.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My office for the day</td></tr>
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We both were scheduled to fly out of LAX late Monday, so we had one more day. I spent the early part of the day working, and the time difference from New York allowed me to stop working at 2 PM. Kirk told me he wanted to go back to Earl of Sandwich for lunch, but I new we were planning to make In-N-Out our last meal before leaving and I did not want something quite so heavy. but then, in the end, I still did end going to another of my SoCal favorites for lunch: El Pollo Loco. Once I finished up working, Kirk and I went back to Downtown Disney (including a side trip through the Disneyland Hotel were we saw Goofy) and spent the rest of the afternoon there. It was a very nice, low stress way to squeeze every bit of Disney into our vacation. After that we drove to the airport, stopping at In-N-Out on the way. A good SoCal way to end what was an absolutely fantastic vacation.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6PHeubcVjY6hk0MkqVgNvl4kinA6CRk61LOFPvc90X0ffe9yO6RPcbenJL6Q5E4ovKBsB8zyNZsZ3ryCQy-6_dvShj92EY3x8sEVeysSa1_9aNMwdjhwTEJ1tEEKRfyd3DzGBJdr25o/s1600/IMG_1863.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6PHeubcVjY6hk0MkqVgNvl4kinA6CRk61LOFPvc90X0ffe9yO6RPcbenJL6Q5E4ovKBsB8zyNZsZ3ryCQy-6_dvShj92EY3x8sEVeysSa1_9aNMwdjhwTEJ1tEEKRfyd3DzGBJdr25o/s640/IMG_1863.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three Goofs</td></tr>
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I hope you enjoyed reading. Feel free to email me, friend me on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/hootdad" target="_blank">Facebook </a>or follow me on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/hootdad" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.<br />
<br />
John and Kirk's Epic Trip Our West:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-intro-and.html" target="_blank">Intro and Planning</a><br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-part-1.html" target="_blank">Part 1: Las Vegas and San Diego</a><br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-part-2.html" target="_blank">Part 2: Disneyland Resort</a><br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-part-3.html" target="_blank">Part 3: D23 Expo</a>John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-54007126886127329112013-08-18T19:22:00.000-07:002013-08-25T09:07:14.083-07:00John & Kirk's Epic trip out west: Part 2 - Disneyland ResortOK, so how do you know you're a Disney fanatic?<br />
<br />
Do you get up while on vacation in order to be on the road by 4:30 AM so that you can get to a Disney park for early entry? If you do, then yes you are a Disney fanatic.<br />
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And yes, that's exactly what Kirk and I did on Monday morning.<br />
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Since we were now staying at The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian, we were eligible for early entry (getting into one of the parks an hour before regular opening - 7:00 AM in this case) for Disney California Adventure as well as Disneyland Park. "Good Neighbor" hotels (such as the Best Western we were originally scheduled for) also get early entry, but only for the days that early entry is scheduled for Disneyland Park. Our experience has taught us that 1) getting to any park right at opening is key to successful park touring and 2) early entry can be a great way to get in several attractions right away. I knew that Carsland in DCA - in particular Radiator Springs Racers - can have huge lines later in the day, so we wanted to take advantage of every early entry opportunity that we could.<br />
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And that is why, by 4:30 Am, we were headed north from San Diego to Anaheim.<br />
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We got to the Grand Californian a little after 6:00 and checked in. The cast member at check-in (Linda) took my phone number in order to text me when the room was ready. She also mentioned a viewing area on the sixth floor from which you can view World of Color, and then suggested that we go to the main entrance to DCA instead of using the back entrance through the hotel because the line would go faster. It seems that the new policy of scanning everyone's ticket and verifying it against a picture of them caused slowdowns - but in particular at the DCA entrance. This is something they’ve got to figure out better. Anyway, we took Linda's advice and went to the front entrance of the park. This was the first time that either Kirk or I had seen DCA since the massive refurbishment - and the improvement is amazing. The entrance alone is simpler, more elegant and inviting, and less confused.<br />
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One thing I will say right here. I am not going to go into detail about the specific changes, nor will I go into a lot of detail about the new attractions. There are many online resources that will tell you anything you need to know (such as AllEars.net or <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/101976972411670793665" target="_blank">+The DIS</a> ). Instead I will simply write about my observations and thoughts. And I have a lot of thoughts!<br />
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Once we entered the park we headed straight to Carsland. I will add mine to the chorus of voices expressing delight with the fantastic job that Disney did with this area. The detail is amazing. First up was Radiator Springs Racers with only a nominal wait. Again I will echo what others have said about what a fun ride this is. One thing I've been hearing lately on the web and on podcasts is speculation that live, physical figures such as Disney's audio-animatronics are going to be replaced by projection systems (as can be seen in Universals "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey"). While this may be true, I think that Radiator Springs Racers is a great argument for using physical figures. The use of audio-animatronics on this ride is second to none. That, along with the terrific theme-ing and the use of music make this a must-do.<br />
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Next up was Luigi's Flying Tires. We wanted to do this mostly because Kirk and I both lament the fact that we never had the chance to experience the classic Flying Saucers ride. I've heard mixed reviews of this ride, but Kirk and I both thought it was a blast. Finally, rounding out the Carsland attractions, was Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. I have heard that this deceptively simple little attraction is a blast, but I was still unprepared for the experience. Watching video, seeing pictures, hearing others talk about the ride, none of this will prepare you for what a blast this ride is. One thing that was neat was that, as we did not have to wait in line long, we didn't really watch others <br />
riding before us. As a result we were caught by surprise with how the ride actually works. I can't really describe it, but suffice it to say that it takes surprising twists if you don't know to expect it.<br />
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I was hungry and needed coffee so I grabbed a cup and a cinnamon twist at a kiosk on our way out of Carsland. The park had now opened when we headed to Condor Flats for a flight on Soarin' over California. We got Fastpasses (9:40), but as the line was only 10 minutes we didn't bother. When we got to the point of being loaded we did what we always do - we requested row one. The CM said we would need to wait - no problem there - and had us move to the middle section (even better) so we rode from row one, middle section. Best seats in the house. Even though, and maybe it's just me, but it seems like the view in row one in Disneyland is not as good as it is in Epcot. The "wing" of the ride vehicle in Disneyland seems to cut off a fair bit of the top of the screen and I found myself having to duck down to peer around this obstruction. Does this happen in Epcot too? I don't remember it being an issue. There was a family next to mi - including a little girl - who had never experienced this attraction before. They were asking me questions about it. I told the little girl to "look for Mickey on the golf ball". During the ride I could hear her squeal with delight, and I also heard her exclaim "I saw Mickey!" after the golf ball flew by. I love getting to see folks - especially kids - having these experiences for the first time.<br />
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After that we hung out at the Pacific Warf area. The first thing we did was to get a couple of FPs for California Screamin' (10:50). I think it's interesting that Disney took down the MaliBoomer and did not replace it with anything. I think I heard why they did that but I don't recall. Improvement by subtraction IMO.<br />
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I wanted to do Toy Story Midway Mania but the line was 45 minutes and Kirk was not up for the wait. His point that it is exactly the same as at WDW is well taken and he wanted to do something that does not exist at WDW. I couldn't argue with that logic so we rode on Mickey's Fun Wheel instead (on the stationery gondolas. I'll never make that mistake again!) What an awesome view! Sometimes the simple attractions are the best. The stated wait was 30 minutes but I don't think we actually waited that long.<br />
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Our California Screamin' FP time was now up. OK, two things. First, I was not sure I'd want to do CS at all. While I do enjoy it, I am not a big fan of coasters with "bunny hops" as they make me queasy. Usually riding once, however, is no issue. The thing is, my stomach had not felt quite right the whole trip up to this point. Nothing that was interfering with the fun, but I didn't want to push it. So, I gave Kirk my CS FP and wandered while he rode twice. The plan was for him to call when he was done.<br />
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I decided to go watch "Instant Concert just Add Water". Unfortunately I got an annoying phone call that interrupted my vacation state of mind and also made me late for the show (which must be really short as I was only a few minutes late and missed it). Instead I sat on a bench watched for a few minutes as Goofy signed autographs and took pictures.<br />
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This is a good time to write something about the character experiences at Disneyland. I have to say that the characters at Disneyland are much better than those at WDW. I noticed this with my own experiences - as well the experiences I witnessed as I toured the parks. A couple of examples: while I was sitting on the bench I saw a funny exchange between Goofy and a young lady. After she walked up to him he turned them around in the wrong direction facing away from the camera. He acted confused for a second then, realizing his mistake, turned around to face the right way. After they got their picture taken he gave the young lady a big kiss, then wiped the "slobber" from his chin with an exaggerated motion. Very funny. Also, earlier that morning I saw Mickey kneeling down with a small child in front of one of the store windows on Buena Vista Street and pointing out all the toys in the display. Very sweet.<br />
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And speaking of positive Cast Member encounters, Kirk and I separately had positive experiences related to getting pins (though Kirk's was more impressive than mine.) In Kirk's case he was looking for a pin for a regular customer who is a Disney fan, and a Goofy fan in particular. He wanted a pin with Goofy, but specifically one that said "Disneyland". He could not find one. At one particular store he was looking and the CM asked what we was looking for. He told the CM who said they did not have anything. So Kirk left. He happened to wander by the store a few minutes later when the CM called to him "I've been looking for you!" It seems someone else had come in and traded a pin with the CM that was just what Kirk was looking for. He told Kirk to buy another pin and they could trade, which he did. Definitely over and above.<br />
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In my case, I went to the store at The Grand Californian looking for a logo pin. There were two designs, one that I liked a lot more than the other. For the one that I liked, which has a dangling key, there are designs for all 3 Disney hotels. In the store they had pins for The Disneyland Hotel and the Paradise Pier Hotel, but none for The Grand Californian. I was about to settle for the other design when the CM suggested I go to the store at one of the other hotels. "We sell out of our own design" he said, "but the other hotels sell out of <i>their</i> designs, so they should have the Grand Californian pins." I took his advice and found what I was looking for at the Disneyland Hotel.<br />
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Kirk got back from his two trips on CS (and reported that even the FP lines were long). We then hit an attraction we had both never experienced - Monsters Inc. ( a cute dark ride) - as well as a show neither of us had seen - Aladdin. This is a very good show and a "must see". I had heard that, especially if you get a particularly good Genie, this is a show not to miss. I have also heard it compared favorably to Broadway shows. OK, I don't want to sound like a snob, but I live in New York and I have seen many Broadway shows. While Aladdin is, indeed, very entertaining, it is not at the same caliber as Broadway.<br />
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After Aladdin it was time for our 2:00 lunch reservation at Carthay Circle Restaurant. This was something I was really looking forward to. And Carthay Circle did not disappoint. The decor - invoking the elegance of Hollywood in the 30's - was absolutely beautiful. Of the WDW restaurants I have been to I would say it reminded me most of The Brown Derby. The decor is very different, but the same level of elegance and attention to detail. The service and the food were equally high quality. As we were on the World of Color dinner package we were given the pre-fixe menu. Kirk started with soup (he said it was very good) while I had a salad (not sure what it was called but it had tangerine or clementine slices). The salad, though a bit heavy on the dressing, was quite tasty. We both had the short rib ravioli which I thought was very good. We also both had the toasted lemon pound cake which was excellent. We asked for tickets to the 10:15 showing of World of Color. Our logic was that, as the park closes at 10:00, that would give us more time in the park.<br />
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Even though I had not received a text, we figured our room was ready by now as it was after 3:00. So we headed back to the Grand Californian. Our room was indeed ready and we checked in. The rooms at the Villas (as the DVC properties are called) are pretty typical DVC studio rooms. Large enough but not exactly spacious and with a queen size bed and a pullout couch. Kirk volunteered to use the pullout - for which I was grateful. This was my second stay at The Grand Californian, the first being not long after the hotel opened. I have the same complaint about the Villas as I had about the hotel rooms - too dark. I get the theme-ing stuff and all that, but give us a little light! One minor annoyance was that someone had set the lock on the safe without closing it so we had to call the front desk to have this taken care of. A couple of guys from Security (why they needed two I don't know) came by promptly and fixed the problem.<br />
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We didn't really have much of a view. Our window was right next to a tall fence. I pointed out to Kirk that on the other side of the fence was DCA! Specifically it was the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. When we opened the window we could hear kids playing on the trail, and Kirk said he actually thought it was the pool at first.<br />
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We headed over to Disneyland. After walking down Main Street we went to Fantasy Faire, which neither of us had seen. It was too late to see either of the shows (I was hoping to see both but I particularly wanted to see the one I had heard was narrated by 2 performers who played most of the parts. Unfortunately I could not recall whether that was Tangled or Beauty and the Beast). I also hoped to fine the "lost turret" that had been uncovered when the new area was built but I could not identify it. We headed over to the Castle for the Sleeping Beauty walk-through. I had not done this since I don't know when. Honestly I don't recall the original to be able to tell whether the refurb had changed it a lot - but I can tell you that this is a unique little attraction that everyone should experience. We were the last in the attraction - a fact that was confirmed by the cast member following us out who locked the doors behind us.<br />
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After visiting The Pirates of the Caribbean (15 minute posted wait, 25 actual) we were both hungry and decided to have dinner at Rancho del Zocolo because it was close and relatively un-crowded on this very busy evening. Mistake for me, big mistake for Kirk. For some unfathomable reason this eatery is set up with tacos on one side and enchiladas on the other. Now, What I really wanted was a taco and an enchilada - not possible unless you order a full platter from one side and a side order from the other. Well, that was too much food for me so I opted for the tacos since the enchiladas looked like they had been sitting there since this place was known as "Casa de Fritos". Kirk, on the other hand, did not get a good look at the enchiladas beforehand and ordered them. While my tacos where "meh" at best - about what I expected in honesty - Kirk said the enchiladas were awful. In retrospect we should have taken the time to battle with the crowds and go to Carnation Cafe.<br />
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We then crossed the plaza again to visit DCA at night. Like Disneyland, DCA takes on a whole new personality at night. Buena Vista Street feels warm and inviting with all the brightly lit storefront windows. Speaking of which, I had heard that there was a bit of a battle between Imagineering and Disney Merchandise over the store displays. Merchandise wanted the items actually for sale in the stores to be featured while Imagineering wanted to display items that would actually have been in stores at the time being depicted (the 20’s). Thankfully Imagineering won. The window displays in the stores on Buena Vista Street are absolutely charming. The cynic in me wonders how long this will last, but it certainly is nice for now.<br />
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Carsland also is absolutely beautiful at night, with all the neon and the rockwork all lit up. Although we missed it on this first night, one thing on our "todo" list was to be there when the lights are turned on in Carsland.<br />
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Eventually we made our way over to our viewing area for World of Color. I had heard that the viewing area for Carthay Circle guests was the best available, and we were certainly not disappointed, as we ended up right in the center. We did avoid the "wet zone" though. I should add here that, when we visited my brothers in Vegas, my younger brother Todd went on about what a horrible show WoC is. "It had this annoying and stupid theme song!" he said. (Todd is 5 years younger than me, so maybe he does not have the fond memories I have of the TV show). I told him that I had heard the show is wonderful, and is thought by many to be the best night time show Disney has to offer. Todd seemed genuinely surprised. "Really?" he said. "Fantasmic! is Way better". I just told him that I would judge for myself.<br />
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After seeing the show, all I can say is - did we see the same show? World of Color was absolutely AMAZING! Again, I won't go into a long description - there are many sites on the web that (such as <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/101976972411670793665" target="_blank">+The DIS</a> ) that do a better job than I ever could. Now, I know there are those that would disagree, but to me WoC is far superior to Fantasmic! (yes, even the Disneyland version which is much better than the WDW version). Kirk and I were both blown away by this show. In fact, walking away Kirk said he wanted to see it again. I said I wasn't sure if I wanted to because I wanted to see Fantasmic! as well as the fireworks. Kirk said he would forego the fireworks for a second viewing of WoC - something I was not willing to do. As you will discover, the point would turn out to be moot.<br />
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Thus ended our first day at The Disneyland Resort.<br />
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Day 2 would start off with an early morning run for me. This turned out to be very cool. First, I ran through Downtown Disney and then the courtyard between the parks before anyone was there. I saw a sight most rare: the entrance to Disneyland with absolutely nobody there. A bit later, on my return trip, I ran through again. This time the security folks and other cast members were just arriving. The guard at the bag checkpoint confirmed I was not going to stop - I told him I was going to the hotel. I also discovered the answer to a great Jeopardy question: "The first song played on the Disneyland song loop in the courtyard". And the question is: "What is 'Whistle While you Work'". The early morning cast members must love that!<br />
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After getting back to the room Kirk told me that he would need more time and would not be ready for Early Entry, so I went by myself. I went back to Fantasy Faire and asked the CM there about the uncovered turret. he pointed it out to me. I had seen it the first time, but as it has now been painted to match the rest of the castle it really no longer stands out. I was hoping it was still unpainted. I started to head to Frontierland but was told that it was not open until later. That threw me for a bit of a loop and left me unsure what to do. I wandered around Fantasyland and headed to Tomorrowland when it hit me. DOH! Kirk does not really feel good about riding Star Tours and I love it. So I did ST and noticed that the queue area - while still essentially the same - seems to have undergone an upgrade. Of course the ride itself is the new "Adventure Continues" version. I was pleased that almost all of the experience I had was of bits I had not yet seen. It started with Darth Vader (the only part I've seen previously), then went to Hoth (very cool), a message from Princess Leia, and a final confrontation with Boba Fett.<br />
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Kirk had called just as I was entering the ride and we arranged to meet at Peter Pan with the intention of riding. While waiting I "people watched" and noticed something I had not seen in years - Alice and The Mad Hatter just wandering around unescorted. I don't know if this is a new thing or a Disneyland thing - characters walking around greeting guests with no escorts - at least not visible - but I like it. Once Kirk and I met up at Peter Pan we both were not willing to wait in the 45 minute line and there is no FastPass for PP in Disneyland. Instead we went to Tomorrowland and rode on Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage with a 30 minute wait. I then suggested using the Touring Plans Lines application (I put all the stuff I figured we'd want to do into the app while waiting) and Kirk agreed. Following the apps suggestions we had a pretty successful morning of touring: Splash Mountain (5 minutes) where we noticed several broken animatronic figures in the finale and Kirk got surprisingly wet, Haunted Mansion (walk on - now that WDW has the enhanced version there is no question which is better), Pirates of the Caribbean (5 minutes - the Disneyland version still beats our the WDW version) and The Enchanted Tiki Room (20 minute wait - we enjoyed Dole Whips while waiting). Next up on the plan was the Tangled show, but it was cancelled. "Character issues" according to the CM. The only other thing on the plan was "Mickey and the Magical Map which started at 11:45 (even though the application had the start time at 11:30). So, we meandered over to the theater and watched the show. Mickey and the Magical Map is a cute show and I would add it to you list if you enjoy such things - the "wall of video" technology is particularly cool. I was surprised upon seeing Mickey in the first scene that he did not have the "animated head". When he returned later in the show his head was animated, so I guess it was just malfunctioning in the beginning.<br />
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After that we headed over to the other side of the park for a ride on the Mark Twain. We both regretted not noticing that the Sailing Ship Columbia was also making a rare appearance - if we had known we would have waited for that.<br />
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We then walked around new Orleans Square for a bit. It was lunch time and we were both pretty hungry. But where to eat? Hmmmm... Oh yes! I almost forgot! We had a 1:15 reservation in a little place at 33 Royale Place. That would do in a pinch!<br />
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Yep, by the grace of a very kind member we had secured lunch reservations at Club 33 - the ultimate Disney geek bucket list experience. If you are not familiar with Club 33 I would suggest Googling it. The only concern I had was that we did not know this was going to happen until a few days into our trip and neither of us had really packed appropriate attire. The member who got us the reservation shared the official dress code with us - basically t-shirts and shorts were fine. We walked up to the door and pressed the doorbell button. A hostess greeted us, got my name and let us in. (OK, I admit it, one of the coolest things is the look of envy on the faces of those watching you go in.) As we waited downstairs a few people were leaving - all of them dressed much better than us. But after we boarded the elevator and went up to the dining room it was clear that, while some did indeed dress up, many were just in standard "theme park wear" just like us.<br />
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We were seated in the main dining room. There is a second - called the "Disney room" as well. Our server - Steven - took our orders and encouraged us to feel free to explore, take pictures, and ask any questions we wanted. For appetizers there is a small salad and appetizer bar.<br />
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I tried a bit of all of the salads - I don't recall if there was two or three, but I do recall that one of them was similar to the salad I had at Carthay Circle. For an entree I had lamb chops which was very good. Kirk had steak which he also said was good. For dessert the was a dessert bar and I had several selections including a coconut macaroon (which was good) and a berry tart (which was not that good). I also had a chocolate covered mini s'mores thingy that was awesome and one other dessert which I don't recall. The total cost was $80 each before tip (pre-fixe) but this is not a meal for which you worry about the price. If the chance comes your way you grab it - which we did. We ended up spending over 2 hours there. Here are a bunch of pics from Club 33 (and yes, this time I remembered to take a pic of my entree!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes,that is the famous Vulture over our heads</td></tr>
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Before leaving we looked over the Club 33 merchandise, which is stored in a glass case. Interestingly I had run into <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/108224698223754995228" target="_blank">+Deb Wills</a> of AllEars.net – whom I have met on a few occasions – and she was also perusing the merchandise. I made the comment about how everything was available except the member ring. “Well, maybe you can get it” I said. “Oh no,” she replied, “I don’t have that kind of money!” Well, I don’t have that kind of money either but I did have enough to part with ($65) to get a Club 33 logo polo shirt. I also nabbed a few of the hand towels – also bearing the logo – from the bathroom.<br />
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After our terrific lunch experience we went back to DCA. I mentioned earlier that, for this trip, a big priority for me was to experience attractions and shows I had not seen before. So, when upon entering DCA we saw "5 Guys and a Dime" (did I get that name right?) performing in Carthay Circle we stopped to watch. Unfortunately we just caught the end of their show but they were a lot of fun. We then headed through Condor Flats where "Minnie's Fly Girls" had just started. We stopped and watched most of the show. Very fun! I love that 40's Andrews Sisters style of harmonizing. Our main goal was to get FPs for Grizzly River run which we did for 7:15 (a bit later than we hoped).<br />
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We then headed back to the hotel. I did laundry and went to the pool. Kirk hung in the room and ended up getting a very cool Haunted Mansion pin set he had his eye on. We headed back to the park about 6:00 wearing swimming suits and sandals in anticipation of our ride on Grizzly River. We checked out California Soarin' but at 45 minutes the line was too long so we just walked around the park a bit before our 7:15 FP time. Of course by then the line was not as long as it was earlier in the day (25 minutes) but for us it was a walk-on. And, of course, since we had the foresight to wear bathing suits, we did not get that wet. Of course we did get wet - you can't avoid getting wet at all on GRR - but we did not get drenched. Either way, we headed back to the room changed again, and went to Disneyland.<br />
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We got to the park at 8:30 and headed straight to Frontierland to see the 9:00 showing of Fantasmic! Our hope was that we could see the fireworks right after Fantasmic!, giving us that chance to see World of Color again. Kirk was OK to skip the fireworks and I was OK with seeing them from a sub-optimal viewing place, so long as I got the chance to see them. Anyway, getting back to Fantasmic!, as we arrived last minute we did not get a great viewing area but it was fine. Yes, Fantasmic! is a great show. Were it not for WoC I would say it is the best night time show Disney has to offer. And the Disneyland version is, indeed, superior to WDW. But I'm sorry, IMO it does not hold a candle to WoC.<br />
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And sure enough, after Fantasmic!, the voice of Bill Rogers came over the PA system suggesting we stay where we were to watch the fireworks. As a lot of folks left after the show we were able to find a better spot (I asked a cast member where the best viewing was) and enjoy the fireworks with no hassle. No, not the greatest spot to see the fireworks, but at least I was able to see them!<br />
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After the fireworks we were both very hungry. And we made the same sort of mistake we had made the night before of going to the first convenient place - in this case the Stage Door Cafe. We both had fish 'n chips. Cold, dry and awful. I should have taken the advice I hear on podcasts and insist they make it fresh but, honestly, I just was not in the mood for the hassle.<br />
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We then headed to the other side of the park to check out the wait at Space Mountain. At 60 minutes it was just too long. We agreed we would ride using FPs the next day. Instead we took in some Fantasyland rides: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (10 minute wait posted, actually 15), Pinocchio's Daring Adventure (no posted wait, actually 5), and Snow White's Scary Adventure (again nothing posted but actually 5). Peter Pan still had a 50 minute wait posted but what I could not for the life of me figure out was Alice in Wonderland's 30 minute wait. Since when was Alice so popular? Perhaps the popularity of the Johnny Depp movie had a residual effect on the ride? It just seemed odd to me.<br />
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That was it for our second day in the parks and we headed back to the hotel.<br />
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The next morning we packed our bags as we would be changing hotels (in the introduction to this trip I explained why we were on at the Grand Californian for 2 nights). We took the luggage to the car and made it back to the DCA entrance gate in time for Early Entry. Again we headed straight to Carsland. This time we got in the single rider line for Radiator Springs Racers and got on within a few minutes. At first it looked as if Kirk and I may be in cars racing each other but no such luck. One cool thing for me was that, while on my first ride our car was spruced up with new paint, on this ride we got new wheels and tires. After we finished (Kirk's car won, BTW, but mine lost as we had on our first ride), I decided I wanted to ride again but Kirk opted out. Again I went to the single rider line and, while it was a bit longer this time, I still got on in a few minutes. I was seated next to a lady who must have been all of 4'8" and weighed about 80 pounds who, during the final race segment, grabbed onto my arm for dear life while screaming with delight. After the ride finished and she realized she had grabbed me she apologized, to which I told her "no problem". I actually got a kick out of it. Again my car lost.<br />
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I met up with Kirk who had gone to Flo's for breakfast. I decided to go to the Cozy Cones and have a breakfast cone: scrambled eggs cheese and bacon in a cone-shaped bagel. It was OK but the eggs were a bit runny. Kirk said that the breakfast as Flo's - especially the eggs - was quite good.<br />
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We wanted to get FPs for the 9:00 showing of World of Color so we headed toward Grizzly River, where they are distributed. On the way Kirk decided to ride Little Mermaid Ariel's Undersea Adventure. I have never been on this attraction and The Little Mermaid is one of my favorite movies, but I have a standing promise with my younger daughter that I will not ride on it until we can do it together (either at Disneyland of WDW). So, I took Kirks pass and got FPs for us both. On the way back I saw that Soarin' over California had a short wait so I did that, even though the wait was a bit longer than I expected. Still, I got row one (although on the side).<br />
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We left DCA a little after 9:00 and headed to Disneyland. First this was to get FPs for Space Mountain, which we did (11;15). We then took a quick ride on the monorail after which we headed to Fantasyland to see some of the things we had missed. the line for Peter Pan was still prohibitively long, but Alice had a posted wait of 10 minutes and we figured it would not get any better so we did it. I told Kirk about the "Half a cup of tea" segment that was removed during the 1982 Fantasyland refurb in order to expand Peter Pan. And while riding I could see the section of track that headed off to a part of the ride that was now gone. After Alice we did It's a Small World which was a walk on. I really think the Disneyland version is superior to the WDW version (although I'm honestly not crazy about either). I should mention hear that one thing Kirk really wanted to do was to experience all of the attractions that had been in the 1964 World's Fair, hence the desire to go on It's a Small World.<br />
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We then went to Tomorrowland where I get a FP for Star Tours and we headed over to Space Mountain to ride using our FPs. Wow. Space Mountain gets the gold star for Most Improved Attraction. The track is much smoother and the music track is a terrific addition. Kudos. I always loved this attraction - and the Disneyland version is better than the WDW version IMO - but now there's even more to love.<br />
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I wanted to see the Iron Man exhibit at Innoventions so we spent a few minutes there. After that we hopped on the Disneyland Railroad so we could see the Grand Canyon Diorama (another World's Fair attraction). We stopped at the Toontown station and walked to Fantasy Faire so we could see Tangled. Unfortunately the theater was full but we were able to watch from outside. Upon watching I confirmed that, of the two shows, this was the one that I had heard about that sounded like the most fun. Good thing too, because I would not get a chance to see beauty and the Beast. maybe next time. Still, Tangled was a very cute show and the conceit of having 2 performers play pretty much all the parts (except Rapunzel and Flynn Rider) was very entertaining.<br />
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After Tangled I went on Star Tours using my FP while Kirk went back to Pirates of the Caribbean.<br />
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After that we headed back to DCA for lunch (don't you just love how park hopping at Disneyland Resort is so easy?) I went to Flo's and Kirk went to get a chili dog. I had a citrus turkey salad at Flo's for $11.50 which was quite good - but where was the citrus? I tasted a hint now and then but there was none in the salad. I realized it was probably that the turkey was somehow cooked with citrus. I toyed with having a milk shake - mostly because I wanted the cool souvenir glass - but I didn't because a) at $9.59 with the glass it seemed a bit much when what I wanted mostly was just the glass and b) I didn't want all the extra calories for what would likely be a mediocre shake. (I have a policy regarding ice cream. I love ice cream, but unless it's Haagen Dazs - or maybe Cold Stone Creamery or Ben & Jerry's - I just don't think it's worth the calories. This is why - horrors! - I generally do not get Mickey Bars)<br />
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I had expected Kirk to join me at the outdoor seating with the wonderful view of Ornament Valley, but he never showed. As I waited I noticed one of the souvenir glasses sitting on top of a trash can. A cast member asked if it belonged to anyone and nobody spoke up. I told him I was wondering why it was there and he offered to wash it and give it to me. I took him up on it and got one of the cool glasses for free. Kirk finally arrive quit a bit later, apologizing and telling me that he was delayed by a passing parade. No worries, as I had a wonderful time enjoying the view and the beautiful day. I told him about how I scored the free glass and he mentioned that he was going to buy a shake to get the glass. I told him he could have mine. "Are you sure?" he asked. I said that, as he was willing to pay the price for the glass and I hadn't been, he must want it more so I figured he should have it.<br />
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We left DCA and drove to our final hotel - the Anaheim Marriot - and checked in. Nothing major to report here - it's a Marriot. Once again I went to the pool while Kirk relaxed in the room (Kirk was a bit concerned about sun exposure). One thing about the Marriot, it has an unusual pool with half of it being covered (it goes underneath the building). In fact, when I saw the pool I realized I had stayed there before years ago. It has been refurb’d since and is much nicer now.<br />
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Since my DVC free parking was still good we drove back to The Grand Californian and parked there. We went back to DCA to see the lights come on in Carsland. I asked a cast member if he know what time the lights would come on and he said "7:49". OK, well that was specific enough. We had some time to kill and we were hungry so we headed over to Cocina Cucamonga. Cucamonga. Every time I hear that word, in my mind I hear Bugs' Bunny. "CUCamonga!" Anyway, I digress. I wish I could tell you what we had, what it cost and what my thoughts were - but I forgot to take notes. Sorry. I do seem to recall it was pretty good - certainly much better than Rancho del Zocolo.<br />
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I finished before Kirk (not unusual) and I was a bit worried about missing the lights so I headed over to Route 66 and got a perfect spot right at the entrance. There were a few other folks waiting as well, After a few minutes the lights came on and, while this is not something I would call a "highlight", I would say that it is worth doing if you can. I found Kirk right after, he had gotten there in time too.<br />
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OK, so, here is what we hoped to do with the rest of the evening in DCA. I really wanted to see Radiator Springs Racers at night. We had 9:00 FPs for World of Color. And we wanted to go back to Disneyland after DCA closed. So we headed to Radiator Springs Racers to check out the single rider line. 45 minutes (the stand by line was 3 hours). It was now 7:57. It wasn't dark but probably would be by the time we got through the line. So, in order for us to get to see the ride at night and make World of Color, the line would have to be pretty much exactly 45 minutes. And single rider line waits are notoriously unpredictable. And no break downs (so far in that regard we had been lucky). Everything would have to fall into place perfectly - and how often does that happen? OK, let's go for it. We got in the single rider line. At first it looked like it may have been a mistake. But, in the end, the line was 42 minutes long, we got to ride it at night (very cool, an entirely different experience), we made it to World of Color (Blue section) and the show started 2 minutes later. Woohoo!<br />
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After that Kirk and I decided to split up as he wanted to go back to Disneyland to go on Haunted Mansion and Pirates again (Kirk has a policy of doing those attractions every day he is in the park if he can) while I just wanted to walk around and take in the sights. So Kirk headed to Disneyland while I strolled around Carsland and Buena Vista Street. Just as the park was closing I followed one of the Trolleys down Hollywood Blvd. with the hopes of catching a ride and I was able to hop on the last run of the night. I then bid adieu to DCA and headed back to Disneyland.<br />
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I was able to stroll around a bit taking in the sights - especially on Main Street - looking in the shops and enjoying the sights, sounds and smells. Eventually I actually decided I would do 2 more attractions - Captain EO and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Captain EO was even cheesier than I had remembered, and now it has the added benefit of being extremely dated. Buzz Lightyear was fun and I got a decent score (mostly thanks to the ride stopping with the guns still activated). Kirk and I reconnected in Disneyland. He told me that the line at Pirates was too long so he went to Haunted Mansion was a walk-on. He then went back to Pirates where the line had died down. Kirk wanted to go on Space Mountain again, while, again, I wanted to just walk around and head back to the hotel.<br />
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One thing I did that ended up being a bit of a mistake was to forget about my previously stated ice cream rule and go to Gibson Girl for a sundae on my way out. Now, what I wanted was hot fudge sundae. I saw the concoction on their menu and that was not really what I wanted. I went to the cast member and said "all I want is a plain hot fudge sundae with nuts. Can I get that?" Well, she said "Yes" with such conviction I thought she knew what I meant. What I got was the messy concoction with cookies and a mound of dripping whipped cream piled on top. I told the server "I just want a plain hot fudge sundae." "This is how we make it" I was told. So I took it and it started immediately melting. Seriously, how do people eat these things? First I threw out the cookies. Then I tried to take a bite but the whipped cream was melting all over my hand and falling over. And I had barely made it out onto the street! Then came the last straw - a glob of fudge fell on what is one of my favorite t-shirts. I had had enough. I took it back and said I didn't want it and asked for a napkin with water, which they provided. A CM behind the counter asked what was the matter and I told him To their credit they made me another - this time with the hot fudge even in a separate cup. <br />
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And it was good.<br />
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Well, that was it for us in terms of park touring. I went back to the hotel to get some much needed shut-eye, Kirk arrived later after riding Space Mountain, but that was pretty much it.<br />
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For Thursday the 8th - the day between our 3 days at the parks and the 3 days of the D23 Expo - we had debated quite a bit on what to do. I suppose we could have added a day to our park tickets and that wouldn't have cost too much. There were a lot of things we missed including the Beauty and the Beast Fantasy Faire show as well as some other street performers. We also missed some of our usual "must rides" like The Indiana Jones Adventure, The Matterhorn Bobsleds, Toy Story Midway Mania and Peter Pan Flight. And Kirk never got to complete his 1964 World's Fair tour because he missed out on Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. But in the end a fourth day in the parks was never really brought up as an option. We had originally intended to do a "Walk in Walt's Footsteps" tour much like the one Nancy Johnson had outlined on the DIS podcast. We were also seriously toying with doing a day at Knott's Berry Farm. In the ended we decided to do... nothing.<br />
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We did sleep in (for the first and only time on the trip). I went for a run. We had to deal with some issues with the door. (The night before I came back before Kirk as I mentioned. After getting ready for bed I went to get some ice. And the door would not open. I tried and tried and ultimately called the front desk. I sat there in my boxer shorts waiting for security to come by to open the door, which they eventually did. Ultimately they had to replace the entire mechanism).<br />
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I wanted to go to the pool but the trouble with the door did away with that idea. Instead we walked to Downtown Disney for lunch at the Earl of Sandwich. I had heard good things about this place and we wanted to check it out. We were not disappointed. We both ordered the Chipotle Chicken Avocado and it was delicious.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hulk Smash!</td></tr>
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We then walked around Downtown Disney for a while before meeting up with a bunch of folks from the <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/101976972411670793665" target="_blank">+The DIS</a> . We all met at The Hearthstone Lounge outdoor area. There were about 30 or 40 people there. I was able to chat with <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/101693422016663174043" target="_blank">+Tom Bell</a> , <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/104545167441380131939" target="_blank">+Mary Jo Mellado Willey</a> , Wayne Tiogo, Michael Bowling, <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/111763203377500204648" target="_blank">+Craig Williams</a> (who was visiting from the Orlando team) and a lovely woman named Lisa as well as a few others. It was a blast!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Bell, Kirk, Me, Mary Jo Mellado and Michael Bowling. Thanks to Wayne for taking the picture!</td></tr>
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I would have loved to stay longer but we had a dinner engagement with my brother Mike and hs wife Evelyn. We met at a very nice Mexican restaurant in Old Orange called Gabbis. I love Old Orange and the restaurant was quite charming, but I have to say i was not crazy about the food. It was good, but honestly I prefer my Mexican food more traditional. But the company was great, and I had a margarita, so I can't complain!<br />
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After dinner I dropped Kirk off at the hotel and I went back to the Disneyland Hotel to go to Trader Sam’s. I was hoping maybe some of the podcast folks might be there but no such luck. Still, I had a Krakatoa Punch which, while a bit fruitier than I normally like, was quite good. And the souvenir mug was awesome! Hanging out at Trader Sam’s and watching all the goings-on was a blast.<br />
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Well that's it. next up is the D23 Expo! I hoped to be able to do this segment as well as the Expo segment by this week-end, but this took a lot longer to write than I expected. At any rate, I will have that up within a few days so stay tuned! And like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter or follow my blog if you want to get updates.<br />
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John and Kirk's Epic Trip Our West:<br />
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<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-intro-and.html" target="_blank">Intro and Planning</a><br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-part-1.html" target="_blank">Part 1: Las Vegas and San Diego</a><br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-part-2.html" target="_blank">Part 2: Disneyland Resort</a><br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-part-3.html" target="_blank">Part 3: D23 Expo</a>John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-46735704740348682942013-08-16T20:35:00.000-07:002013-08-24T20:43:53.473-07:00John & Kirk's Epic trip out west: Part 1 - Las Vegas and San Diego (and Rancho Cucamonga)The trip threatened to get off to a very bumpy start - at least for me. I went into Manhattan to work from my mid-town office with the intention of catching s shuttle bus around 2:00 for Newark Airport. My with Andie kindly offered to take my (very large) bag with her to her office which happens to be very closes to where I needed to catch the bus. When I finished working for the day I met her at the bus stop and she gave me my bag. I just missed a bus. "No biggie" I thought, as there would be another bus soon and I was leaving with ample time to account for traffic. Then the bus was late. Again no big deal, still plenty of time. I boarded the bus and we drove to the Lincoln Tunnel. There we waited. And waited. And waited. After about an hour it was clear there was something amiss. As it turned out there was an overturned truck in the tunnel and the tunnel was completely closed down. And traffic was at a complete stand still. This did not look good. When we were basically in the same spot at 4:30 I figured there was no way I was making my 6:30 flight. Well, the gods smiled down on my, the seas parted (as did the traffic), the tunnel re-opened and I made it to the gate with time to spare.<br />
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The flight itself was completely uneventful. Then I went to pick up my bag. I went to the baggage carousel and waited. And waited. And waited. No bag. Now, remember, I was not planning to stay in the area. I was leaving on a shuttle that night to Rancho Cucamonga (about an hour away). So I went to the lost bag desk and got in line. And waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, after about an hour I got to the desk where I was promptly informed that my bag was on the carousel. And it was. Why I didn't see it was completely beyond me. Oh well. Finally, bag in tow, I went to catch the shuttle. The company promised pickup in 15-20 minutes. Well, an hour later my shuttle finally arrived. <i>*sigh*</i> To add insult to injury I was the last stop for the shuttle. I finally arrived in Rancho Cucamonga at about 1 AM. But who cares! The vacation has officially begun! Kirk and I stayed up and visited for a bit, but we were both bushed so we called it a night soon enough.<br />
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I should mention here that I am a runner. I ran my first race - the Walt Disney World Half Marathon - in January of this year. Since then I have run 3 more half marathons and a few 5Ks and 10Ks. I am now training for my first full marathon which I plan to do in November. I try not to let my vacations get in the way of training, so during this report I may mention on certain days that I went for a run. Without boring most readers with the details, I will point out that the training consists of "short" (in my case, 45 minute) runs and weekly "long" runs of anywhere from 4 or 5 miles to 13 or 14 miles. I also cross train with core and strength training (although my strength training has been waylaid by a fractured left elbow). Anyway, Thursday morning I woke up early and went on a very pleasant short run through Rancho Cucamonga.<br />
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After I got back we got ready to leave, had the font desk call a cab for us and went to Budget Rental Car to pick up our car - a Mazda 3. The car was fine except they did not fill up the windshield washer fluid which was annoying. Kirk and I drove to the neighborhood where we met and did a quick tour of our old stomping grounds, checking out some things that were relatively unchanged and others that had changed quite a bit.<br />
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We then hopped on I15 and headed out to Vegas. We stopped in the town of Baker for gas, noticing that there were several eating establishments there. Even though it was past lunch time and we were both hungry, we had already decided we would stop at Buffalo Bill's in Primm right on the border to Nevada. On our last trip to Vegas we did this and had a good time, especially riding the monster roller coaster "Desperado". Mistake. We may have enjoyed Primm on our last trip but not this time. First of all, neither of us really felt like riding the coaster. When we walked in Buffalo Bill's we were struck by the place's foul, musty smell. The food court was completely uninviting, so we went to the Primm Casino instead. The odor in the Primm was not much better. But we were hungry so we went to the buffet for lunch. It was not horrible, but that's about as positive as I can be. We decided that, should there be a "next time", we would stop in Baker for lunch and breeze right through Primm.<br />
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We arrived in Vegas in the afternoon and checked into the <a href="http://www.arialasvegas.com/" target="_blank">Aria</a>. Boasting over 4,000 rooms, The Aria is, I believe, the largest hotel in the new <a href="http://www.citycenter.com/" target="_blank">City Center</a> complex in Vegas. They tout themselves as the only hotel/casino in City Center, which I found confusing because <a href="http://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/" target="_blank">The Cosmopolitan</a> is also a hotel/casino. Turns out The Cosmopolitan, although right next to City Center, is not actually part of City Center. At any rate, The Aria is a huge hotel/casino that is part of a truly enormous City Center complex.<br />
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After parking in self-parking we made out way to the front desk. This is a very long walk that winds a rather circuitous path through the massive casino complex. In fact, it seemed to me that the front desk is as far from self-parking as possible. Like most Vegas hotel/casinos, The Aria does not really have an impressive lobby since the casino area serves more or less as a lobby. That said, the hotel's decorating scheme begins at the check-in area with dark woods, simple lines and lots of interesting textures. The modern design is reminiscent of many newer hotels, like The W and even, from what I've seen, Bay Lake Towers in WDW. While the style is clean and attractive, it is also perhaps a bit cold.<br />
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This design theme continued to the room, which was quite spacious. When we entered the room the curtain automatically opened, revealing an impressive Las Vegas Strip view - a nice touch. Speaking of that, while the view from our room was nice, I have to say that the configuration and position of the hotel makes me think that most of the rooms don't have much of a view. At least not a view of the Strip. Of course I can't confirm this, but it looked that way to me. And while, like the rest of the hotel, the room was clean, well appointed and tastefully decorated, it was also a bit, well, odd. As an example, in the bathroom there was a frosted glass wall and door separating the toilet area from the rest of the bathroom. OK, this <i>looked </i>pretty interesting but for all practical purposes it was useless. How shall I put this? Unless you are... let's see... comfortable enough with the person with whom you are sharing the bath to use the toilet with no wall at all, then this frosted glass wall makes no difference at all. You are still going to want to be the only one in the bath as you, uh, take care of business.<br />
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In addition to the odd glass wall I noticed the lack of towel rings. OK, I get it, towel rings ruin the aesthetic you are going for. But you know what? I have damp towels and I need to hang them on something. Annoying. And speaking of annoying, can hotels please start using safes that are big enough to hold a large laptop? Not a single one of the five hotels we stayed in on this trip - including the Aria - could fit my laptop. And the safe at the Aria I think was the biggest I encountered on this trip. In addition to large safes, most hotels, especially higher end hotels it seems to me, refuse to provide free wifi. This is another thing I find aggravating. I think that we are going to start seeing more free wifi in hotels in the future, though. At least I hope so.<br />
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On the good side, the shower was large and very nice and the beds were comfortable. Kirk reported that he did not like the pillows but I had no issues with them. Overall the room was quite nice and comfortable. Only minor complaints there.<br />
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Once you leave the room is when the complaints start. There are issues may have seemed very insignificant when taken individually, but I had the feeling that they informed larger problems. First, there are the little details. These are the things that you only notice when they're not right. An example was they had towel bin at the pool which was a large plastic bin with "Aria" scrawled on it in indelible ink by what appeared to be a three year-old. Speaking of the pool, or pools really, I was unimpressed. There are several pools with their own pool areas, and each of them is unimpressive. None are very large nor do they boast interesting landscaping or theme-ing. And the pools were too warm and the spas were not hot enough. A resort of this size should do much better. And finally, the staff. The staff at the Aria were actually quite pleasant to deal with, but there were little things that indicated what I suspect is a lack of proper training. One case in point: I asked where the pool was and I was told "The Second Floor". OK. I went to the elevator - no "Second Floor". I actually asked a guest who informed me it was on the "Promenade" level. Look, if the elevator says "Promenade", then call it "Promenade". You and the other folks that work there may call it "The Second Floor" but the guests have no way of knowing that.<br />
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Finally, housekeeping took Kirk's phone charger. Of course I don't think they intentionally took it - that would be silly. Rather I suspect they unplugged his charger when they plugged in the vacuum and inadvertently took it with them when they left. He didn't notice until we were ready to leave and we tore the place apart looking for it. Kirk called security who said they would call after the housekeeping crew came in "at 11" (this after the housekeeping manager said that the crew comes in at 9). By 11 we would be well on our way so Kirk just bought another charger. And they never did call.<br />
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So, no, we were not impressed with The Aria.<br />
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On that first night in Vegas we met 2 of my brothers - younger brother Todd and older brother Norm - for dinner. They had requested someplace "not too expensive" (no problem for me), so we went to an upscale burger place in The Cosmopolitan called "<a href="http://www.holsteinslv.com/" target="_blank">Holsteins</a>" (a horrible name, but better than what I originally thought it was - "Heifers"). It's a cute place with a funky decor which predominately features the restaurant's cartoon cow mascot. We were seated in a large banquette which was, honestly, not conducive to conversation. We were seated 4 across with me and Kirk on the ends and Todd and Norm in the middle. As a result Kirk and Todd talked to each other mostly while Norm and I talked.<br />
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I had "The Classic" (a basic burger - $14) and 2 Guiness ($8.50 each!), Kirk had "The Longhorn" ($16) and a Diet Coke ($3), Todd had a quesadilla ($15.50) and Norm had a salad ($13). I also had onion rings, which I ordered specifically because I thought I read that they were beer-battered. They were not. Our total bill came to $91 before tip. The food was... OK. I would expect an exceptional burger for $14, and I can honestly say that the In-N-Out Burger I had on the last day of the trip was much better for less than a third the price. Of course comparing any burger to In-N-Out is not fair, but still... Kirk has the same impression. just OK. At least there was no exceptional food to get in the way of the conversation. I would not recommend Holstein unless you are dying for a burger and are right there.<br />
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As we had a $100 resort credit for the Aria, Kirk and I also ate at two restaurants there. We had much better luck with The Aria restaurants.<br />
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First, we had pizza at "Five 50". It was a good, rustic pizza. (Forgive me for not having pictures of the food, I am not in the habit of taking "food porn" shots. I always think of it after eating.) We split a 16" pizza with mushrooms, half pepperoni and half sausage. It was quite good. Although it looked too big for use to be able to finish the the whole thing, we managed. We also ate at a high-end Mexican restaurant called "Javier's". This would turn out to be, perhaps, the best meal of the trip. Kirk and I both ordered a Chile Relleno/Taco/Enchilada combination. (I only wanted the chile relleno and taco, but our server told me it would be cheaper to get the combo so I did. I did not regret this as the portions were not large.) The chile relleno was excellent, though a bit on the small side. The enchilada was good and the taco - the hard shell variety using a shell made from home made tortilla - was perhaps the best hard shell taco I have ever had. Also, instead of the usual pinto or black beans they served some sort of yellow refried beans - and they were delicious! The combos were $22 each. The food was excellent. I can't say the same for the drinks. I had 2 specialty margaritas - cucumber and pomegranate. Both were good but way too strong. And I don't mean booze strong - I mean taste strong. Almost thick and syrupy.I know this sounds like sacrilege, but I actually watered them down after a few sips. The margaritas were $15 each and Kirk had Diet Coke in tiny bottles for $5 each. Obviously they make their money off the drinks. The total bill was $90 before tip.<br />
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On Friday morning I got up for a run and ran down Las Vegas Blvd. By pure chance, and almost exactly the halfway point, I ended up near a pretty famous sign. I stopped to look and luckily there was someone there willing to take my picture:<br />
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On the DIS Unplugged podcast we discussed things to do while in Vegas. One thing we discussed was a zip-line through downtown Vegas. That sounded awesome - but unfortunately it is no longer available. Another idea was Cirque du Soliel, but the only one Kirk was interested in was "One" (featuring the music of Michael Jackson) which I had no desire to see - mostly due to the fact that, as it had recently opened, all tickets were full price. So, we decided to skip it. We actually ended up doing the same thing I had done with my family on our last trip to Vegas - <a href="http://www.vegas.com/attractions/off-the-strip/red-rock-canyon/" target="_blank">Red Rock Canyon</a>. Red Rock Canyon is a National Park just outside of Vegas - about 30 minutes from the Strip. In fact, when you drive out there you find yourself thinking that it couldn't be that close because you are driving through residential neighborhoods right up until the last couple of miles.<br />
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We were both a bit concerned about walking around in the 100 degree-plus temperatures, but the park is mostly organized in a loop where you drive from one site to another. You can get out and go for long hikes - but you don't have to. Even still, while we expected to stay there an hour or two and we were there all afternoon. I can not recommend this side trip enough.<br />
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Here are some pictures from Red Rock - hard to believe this is only about 30 minutes from the Strip.<br />
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I know what your burning question is: did we gamble while in Vegas? Yes. About an hour of video poker. Kirk lost $15 and I won $40.<br />
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On Saturday (August 3) we checked out of the Aria and drove to San Diego. Along the way we stopped in Baker to have lunch at one of the fine dining establishments that you can find in the West but not where either of us live: Jack in the Box. We both ordered their unique tacos (2 for $1!) and I had onion rings as well, which are also unique. Jack in the Box make their tacos by deep frying the taco shell and beef and then stuffing it with a half slice of american cheese, lettuce and sauce. Definitely a one-of-a-kind taste (thankfully, some would say I'm sure).<br />
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Alas, their deep fried apple turnover is no longer on their menu (or else I would have ordered one of those bad boys in a heartbeat!)<br />
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We arrived in San Diego just in time to check in to the hotel and get to the game. As I mentioned in the intro blog entry, I am a Yankees fan and, as serendipity would have it, the Padres played the Yankees this weekend. We stayed at the <a href="http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/california/hilton-san-diego-bayfront-SANCCHH/index.html" target="_blank">Bayfront Hilton</a>. Nothing in particular to report here - it's a fairly typical and serviceable Hilton. the room was a bit smaller than the room at The Aria. And the view of the docs - with a Dole Pineapple shipment unloading - was less impressive. We found ourselves wondering if any of those containers were filled with Dole Whip.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dole Whip anyone?</td></tr>
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<a href="http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/sd/ballpark/index.jsp" target="_blank">PetCo Park</a>- where the Padres play - is a beautiful park (even though Kirk, who owns a small boutique pet supply store, was none too happy about being in a stadium named after his arch nemesis). The game was excellent except for the sun being directly in our eyes for the first half. It started out as a real pitchers duel through the 6th with Ivan Nova matching the Padres pitcher Tyson Ross 0 for 0. Then, in the seventh, Granderson hit a 2-run homer scoring himself and Soriano. Granderson would score again in the 9th. Nova pitched 7 shut-out innings with Robertson pitching a scoreless 8th and Mariano coming in for the save. The final score was 3-0 Yankees. The Rivera save was particularly satisfying because in the only game I had seen this season - Rivera's final season - he not only blew the save but lost the game. Kirk and also never seen the future Hall of Famer pitch and this would be his one chance. A great game all around.<br />
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On the podcast, Tony suggested we check out the Gaslamp Quarter, so after the game we did just that. The joint was jumping. It's a really cool part of town with lots of clubs and restaurants. Kirk had a hankering for some sort of seafood soup or bisque, and we ended up at The Palm which served a very good Lobster Bisque. I also had an excellent salad (like a Caesar but not) and a glass of very good pinot grigio. It definitely hit the spot. About $50 before tip.<br />
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The next morning (Sunday) I went down to use the hotels decent gym and then tried to get a cup of coffee at Starbucks but it was way too crowded. Instead we left - I figured I could get coffee on the road. Our destination was Old Town San Diego. Interestingly this was not one of the recommendations from the podcast, but I did hear about it from another episode of the podcast. Once we got there I went to the bar at Casa Reyes - which is located right in the center of Old Town - where I was finally able to get a cup of coffee. Not a great cup of coffee, but at least it dispelled the caffeine headache.<br />
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After walking around Old Town a bit we had lunch at Casa Reyes. We both had tamales - which were huge. I wish I could say the food was amazing, but honestly it wasn't. It was fine, but not great. The tamales were huge as I said, but not memorable. Neither of us finished ours. And the refried beans were pretty ordinary.<br />
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After lunch we decided to walk to the Presidio. Mistake. I'm not saying going to the Presidio was a mistake - walking there was. It was difficult to find as we could not find a clearly marked path and we doubled back several times. If you want to go there, drive. Still, it was very pretty, just not worth the effort we put in to getting there. While there we asked about the Mission and we were told that, while the Presidio location was the original location of the Mission, it had since been moved to another location.<br />
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Once we walked back to Old Town we decided that, as the Mission that exists now is not the original, we would skip it and instead look around Old Town some more. I was glad we did as Old Town is very interesting with some wonderful little shops and museums (including a cool little Wells Fargo museum).<br />
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After returning to the hotel and resting up at the pool (for me) and in the room (for Kirk) we decided to head out to Belmont Park and The Big Dipper roller coaster. This was another of Tony's recommendations. And if this had been about 20 years ago it probably would have been a good one. But for us, it just didn't really have much to offer. 2 good things did come out of it, however. First, it was our one and only opportunity to check out that beach. Although admittedly all we did was check it out, as we stood on the boardwalk for a few minutes and looked out to the ocean. Also, Belmont Park has a "Hot Dog on a Stick". This little franchise in ubiquitous in Southern California malls but I have never seen one anywhere else. I had a corn dog and a lemonade. It definitely took my right back to the SoCal mall experience...<br />
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The lobster bisque at The Palm in the Gaslamp Quarter was such a hit we decided to go there again. We headed back to the hotel pretty early as we would be leaving early the next day for Disneyland. One thing I like to indulge in is the occasional cigar (preferably with scotch). The Hilton is a non-smoking hotel but they did have a nice little smoking area with seating, so I went there. Now, it obviously takes a lot longer to smoke a cigar than a cigarette, so as I set there several cigarette smokers came and went. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with them. First was a young Italian mother living in France. She spoke several languages, but her English was very rough. Still, we managed to have a pleasant conversation. She left and was replaced by a young woman from England of Scottish decent, with whom I discussed accents. Finally was a Turkish gentleman who I chatted with for a few minutes before it was time for me to leave. It was a very pleasant finish to a fun couple of days in Vegas and San Diego.<br />
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I know that most of you reading this are probably most interested in hearing about Disneyland and especially D23, but I wanted to write them in chronological order. I hope to have the rest done by the end of this weekend, so stay posted! And if you want to get updates when I post entries, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hootdad" target="_blank">friend me on Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/hootdad" target="_blank">follow me on Twitter</a> or add me to your Google+ circles (link below).<br />
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Next up: Disneyland!<br />
<div>
<br />
John and Kirk's Epic Trip Our West:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-intro-and.html" target="_blank">Intro and Planning</a><br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-part-1.html" target="_blank">Part 1: Las Vegas and San Diego</a><br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-part-2.html" target="_blank">Part 2: Disneyland Resort</a><br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-part-3.html" target="_blank">Part 3: D23 Expo</a></div>
John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-83678670271425169232013-08-14T17:47:00.003-07:002013-08-24T20:43:39.584-07:00John & Kirk's Epic trip out west: Intro and planningOK so this was an epic trip. There's no other way to put it. A 12-day whirlwind of activity culminating in the ultimate Disney event and including some interesting surprises and more than one fortuitous happenstance. In fact this trip could have been titled "A Series of Fortunate Events". But I get ahead of myself...<br />
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First, this is another entry in the on-going saga of my friendship with Kirk that goes back more than 45 years. I will not get into details here, but you can read about our previous adventures <a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-intro.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br />
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James Michener wrote that if you want to understand the history of Texas, you have to go back to the dinosaurs. Well, to understand this trip you don't have to go quite that far back, but you do need to go back 2 years to September 2011. That was when <a href="http://www.d23.com/" target="_blank">D23</a>, the official Disney fan club, held there second bi-annual <a href="https://d23.com/d23-expo/" target="_blank">expo </a>in Anaheim, CA. I read all about the expo online, saw pictures and videos, and read blogs and reports, and I made myself a promise that I would be there for the next one. And of all the people I know, besides perhaps the youngest of my 2 daughters (who is never available that time of year), I knew that the person I wanted to share the experience with my old buddy Kirk. And so it happened that, about 2 years ago, I called him up and said "Dude, we are going!"<br />
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As the date got closer we started expanding on our plans. Naturally we would have to spend a few days at Disneyland. That went without saying. A quick visit to Las Vegas also seemed appropriate - especially since 2 of my brothers - neither of whom I had seen in a couple of years - both live there.Then Kirk mentioned that he had never been to San Diego and always wanted to go there. Another thing Kirk and I like to do is go to MLB games, so I looked up the schedule for the Padres. And wouldn't you know it? The Padres played the Yankees (I'm a Yankees fan) on the weekend before the expo. All the pieces were falling into place. Finally, I decided to book the flight using frequent flyer miles. Because of the limitations on when I could fly using points the trip ended up even a bit longer. So, here is our final itinerary:<br />
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<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Tuesday July 30</b> - Kirk flies to Ontario, CA, booking a hotel in Rancho Cucamonga using points. (Kirk and I met in Rancho Cucamonga - previously Alta Loma - and Kirk grew up there. He wanted to spend a day visiting his old stomping grounds).</li>
<li><b>Wednesday July 31</b> - I fly into LAX and take a shuttle to Rancho Cucamonga. (Originally I was going to spend the first night near LAX and rent a car the next morning, but I saved abou $150 by canceling the hotel and staying with Kirk in Rancho Cucamonga, and even more important I saved over $300 by changing my car pickup to Ontario Airport. And yes, I was still dropping off at LAX.)</li>
<li><b>Thursday August 1</b> - drive to Las Vegas for 2 nights at the <a href="http://www.arialasvegas.com/" target="_blank">Aria</a>. I would pay for this in cash, about $400 total but with a $100 resort credit.</li>
<li><b>Saturday August 3</b> - drive to San Diego for 2 nights at the <a href="http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/california/hilton-san-diego-bayfront-SANCCHH/index.html" target="_blank">Hilton Bayfront</a>. Again, Kirk paid with points.</li>
<li><b>Monday August 5</b> - drive to Anaheim for 2 nights at the <a href="http://www.parkplaceinnandminisuites.com/" target="_blank">Best Western Inn and Park Place Suites</a>, again me paying with cash. This hotel is located on Harbor Blvd. right at the entrance to Disneyland.</li>
<li>3 days visiting Disneyland.</li>
<li><b>Wednesday August 7</b> - switch to the <a href="http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/travel/laxah-anaheim-marriott/" target="_blank">Marriot Anaheim</a> for 5 nights - again with Kirk using points. Originally we were going to do 3 nights at the Best Western and 4 nights at the Marriot, but when Kirk called to make the reservation they gave him the 5th night for free. This would be the first in a long string of happy surprises on this trip.</li>
<li><b>August 9 to 11</b> - D23 Expo.</li>
<li><b>Monday August 12</b> - Night flights home for us both.</li>
</ul>
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<br />
OK, everything was set.<br />
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As part of my planning for this trip specifically, as well as just something I do for fun, I listen to the <a href="http://www.disunplugged.com/category/disneyland-podcast-episodes/" target="_blank">DIS Unplugged Disneyland Edition podcast</a>. Over the years I feel like I've gotten to know Tom, Nancy, Tony, Mary Jo, Wayne (who has left) and more recently Michael. Now, a while back they did a series of podcasts where they helped a Walt Disney World veteran plan her Disneyland visit. While doing these shows they asked for other folks to write in if they wanted help with their trips. I thought that would be fun, but I assumed they were looking for folks with families and that they would not be interested in a couple of men-of-a-certain-age planning a trip out west. Tom kept asking for, as he said, "victims - I mean - volunteers" so I thought "why not" and I wrote in. Well, a few weeks later Tom invited me on to the show and I had the distinct pleasure of being a guest on one of my favorite podcasts.<br />
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OK, so at the beginning of this I wrote that you could read about the on-going saga of my friendship with Kirk. If you are interested in the whole story, which I do not write about in this blog, I suggest you listen to the podcast. There are 2 episodes as of this writing. You can find the first, where I tell the story of our friendship (which is, if I do say so, pretty intriguing) <a href="http://www.disunplugged.com/2013/07/04/dis-unplugged-podcast-070413-disneyland-show/" target="_blank">HERE </a>and the second <a href="http://www.disunplugged.com/2013/08/01/dis-unplugged-podcast-080113-disneyland-show/" target="_blank">HERE</a>. There will be a third later where I recap our trip, and I will post a link to that when I have it.<br />
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One more thing before I get into the meat of the report. As I mentioned we had a reservation for 2 nights at the Best Western Park Place Suites. Well, I had also put in a waitlist request for <a href="http://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/destinations/resorts/grand-californian-villas/" target="_blank">The Villas Disney's Grand Californian</a>, a <a href="http://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/" target="_blank">Disney Vacation Club</a> property (I am a DVC member). I was told in no uncertain terms that I should not expect to get the waitlist request fulfilled. As it would turn out, I found out about a week before our departure that our request had been fulfilled. So I cancelled the Best Western because we were staying at The Grand Californian! (And using DVC points so there would be no cash layout.) Another fortuitous event.<br />
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Next up: Las Vegas and San Diego<br />
<br />
John and Kirk's Epic Trip Our West:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-intro-and.html" target="_blank">Intro and Planning</a><br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-part-1.html" target="_blank">Part 1: Las Vegas and San Diego</a><br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-part-2.html" target="_blank">Part 2: Disneyland Resort</a><br />
<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-kirks-epic-trip-out-west-part-3.html" target="_blank">Part 3: D23 Expo</a>John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-80634644491309699702013-07-04T19:56:00.001-07:002013-07-04T19:56:33.995-07:00John gets interviewed on a Disneyland podcast!On July 1st I was interviewed on the DIS Unplugged Disneyland edition podcast. The show was uploaded on July 4th. It was a lot of fun! My thanks to the DID Unplugged crew Tom, Mary Jo, Nancy, Tony and Michael. You can listen to the podcast <a href="http://www.disunplugged.com/2013/07/04/dis-unplugged-podcast-070413-disneyland-show/" target="_blank">here</a>. Check it out!John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-73777709429284474582013-01-27T17:57:00.000-08:002013-02-09T08:22:33.209-08:00Intro: John & Kirk in WDW for January 2013 Marathon Weekend<b style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Intro and Day 1</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">About 7 months ago I decided, as a 55-year old who was never much of a runner (although I do exercise regularly including "quick walks"), that I would run in the 2013 Walt Disney World Half Marathon. I am not going to go into details of what lead up to this decision, but </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">if you are interested about this you can read more </span><a href="http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2946895" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">. I started training and stuck with it for 7 months </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">(if you are interested in reading my training journal you can do so </span><a href="http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2971492" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">I called my friend Kirk and asked him to join me - no surprise he accepted. I warned Kirk that my main focus was going to be on the marathon, but that said there were a few other things that we were very interested in experiencing (the New Fantasyland in particular). Another thing we wanted to do was to check out some sit-down restaurants we never went to before. That did not work out too well... as you will read later.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Anyway, I flew out Thursday night and arrived in Orlando at about 10:10 (a bit early). When I got there I called Kirk on his cell phone and was quite surprised when his wife answered. Turns out Kirk had inadvertently picked up the wrong phone and the one he had did not work. If you know Orlando Airport you know that it has 2 different gate areas that are across a large plaza from each other. So I basically just walked between the two gate areas and the two baggage claim areas until I eventually ran into Kirk.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">That little glitch out of the way we hit the road and headed to Old Key West (OKW). I had rented a studio using DVC points. At first we were booked into Saratoga Springs but I put in a wait list request for OKW because the OKW studios include 2 queen size beds instead of one bed and a sleeper sofa. We arrived at a bit before midnight and checked in. The OKW studio is, indeed, quite large with a very nice bath and 2 queen beds. Our room (4120) was a bit long in the tooth and in need of a refurb, but not not too bad and still quite comfortable.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Our plan was to get to the Magic Kingdom (MK) on Friday at park opening. We rose at 6:30 and made our way to the Hospitality House. Our plan was to have breakfast at Olivia's. The problem was that Olivia's did not open for breakfast until 7:30. Good's, the counter service restaurant, was open and Kirk bought a refillable mug which he thought would be a good deal for him. I don't drink soda so I never get them. After that we hung around the resort store (Conch Flats). One thing I noted was that there was a lot of logo merchandise (merchandise bearing a logo specific to a particular attraction, resort, etc.) This is a development that is getting a lot of positive reaction from Disney podcasts as well as the <a href="http://www.disboards.com/" target="_blank">DISboards </a>discussion forums. I saw an OKW t-shirt with my name on it.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsuO4lIL4oEtQWlkLZKsl9CeL8-OuVzqIOH-Lme4U5wWgyp1FDL1ju_BiiFh5-SODaBwe8aKswDYzeduCvt90IsJGxLI3VWFruYqkvVqcJPujuHuQY0BM4HnbuG_E8qqtlEVaxCOdoq0Y/s1600/IMG_1289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsuO4lIL4oEtQWlkLZKsl9CeL8-OuVzqIOH-Lme4U5wWgyp1FDL1ju_BiiFh5-SODaBwe8aKswDYzeduCvt90IsJGxLI3VWFruYqkvVqcJPujuHuQY0BM4HnbuG_E8qqtlEVaxCOdoq0Y/s640/IMG_1289.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Olivia's</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Olivia's opened at 7:30 and we were the first customers of the day. I had bacon & eggs, coffee and OJ and Kirk had a very large omelet. The breakfast was about on par with your typical diner fare (albeit a fair bit more expensive).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After breakfast we headed over to MK. We parked and decided to take the resort monorail which promptly sat in the station for about 10 minutes. *sigh* Now, Kirk and I consider ourselves to be pretty expert at park touring, but for this first day of touring we decided to try using the "Trip" application from <a href="http://touringplans.com/">touringplans.com</a>. I keyed all of the attractions we wanted to experience into the app and hit "optimize". The plan it came up with - starting with Peter Pan Flight (PP) and the Haunted Mansion (HM) - was quite different than what we would have done on our own. Unfortunately, as Olivia's opened later than we expected, we didn't get to MK until 9:30. We had to re-jigger the touring plan and now it had us start at HM.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After that we followed the plan to the tee right up until we planned to stop for an early lunch. We did Jungle Cruise (with an awesome "Captain" named Chanel), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Pirates of the Caribbean.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">As I was doing the Half Marathon the next day and had to rise early I wanted us to have an early lunch and dinner, so we decided to eat at "Be Our Guest" (BOG) at 11:00. This worked out well because I had heard that BOG got very crowded later.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">BOG is a first at WDW in that it is counter service during the day and switches over to table dining in the evening. I understand that it is very difficult to get dinner reservations there. For lunch you simply need to get on line and wait. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Inspired by Disney's classic animated film "Beauty and the Beast" (BatB), th</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">e exterior of BOG is in a building themed to look like a rock mountain with The Beasts Castle atop it. The Disney Imagineers use a technique called "forced perspective" - making things in the distance smaller to make them look further away and larger - to make the castle look considerably larger than it actually is. The effect is stunning.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnorz5NorHFKkicwb2lrEKKCvJ_zfFsDIefpqf8nk6Sx6QTweIpznMcnO-XxRlP_bIasq5t4wiLTyUolavIkUyDEYhWaKZDC5txK1ZFs-ABloNvrd13tfP5SLhJvkRmJV4KMeMJ2wB0iE/s1600/IMG_1290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnorz5NorHFKkicwb2lrEKKCvJ_zfFsDIefpqf8nk6Sx6QTweIpznMcnO-XxRlP_bIasq5t4wiLTyUolavIkUyDEYhWaKZDC5txK1ZFs-ABloNvrd13tfP5SLhJvkRmJV4KMeMJ2wB0iE/s640/IMG_1290.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to "Be Our Guest"</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">You enter the restaurant in something of an anteroom where you queue up to order. You pass through a hallway lined with suits of armor. Listen closely - OK, you don't have to listen </span><i style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><b>that</b></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> closely - and you will hear the suits of armor talking to each other! As you pass through this hallway you also get a chance to peruse video kiosks that illustrate your dining choices. </span><a href="http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningdetail.cfm?restaurant.id=615" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Click here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> (thanks to <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/101976972411670793665" target="_blank">+The DIS</a> ) to see the full menu.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Next you are greeted by a cast member (CM) at a podium who will ask you how many are in your party and give you a "rose" (a small plastic RFID locator). You are then directed by another CM to a video kiosk where you place your order. This part could use some refining - I noticed that the CM directing guests to the kiosks were not very careful about making sure they pulled from each line equally. As a result the line we were in went <i><b>very</b></i> slow. Before you are directed to your kiosk you are asked if you will be paying cash or credit. Most of the kiosks are unmanned and require a credit card while two (I think? Maybe one?) are manned and you can pay cash. Once at the kiosk you hold your "rose" to a reader (so it knows who is ordering) and you place your order and pay.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ballroom</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">When you have finished ordering you go into one of the restaurant's three dining rooms and find a seat. The largest and most elegant of the dining rooms is the Ballroom. This room is themed to look like the ballroom from the iconic scene in BatB where they dance to the film's theme song. It is a very large room with exquisite chandeliers, cherubs painted on the ceilings, and a row of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over a landscape with perpetual snowfall. The other two smaller dining rooms are the Rose Room and the West Wing. The West Wing is themed as the room where the Beast goes to be alone. The rose from the story sits in the corner, the curtains and wall hangings are all torn and tattered, there is a constant thunder storm and the torn portrait of the Beast before his transformation hangs on the wall. Every few minutes the thunder gets louder, a petal falls from the rose and a flash of lightning reveals the Beast in the portrait. The Rose Room has a sculpture of Beauty and the Beast dancing in the center of the room and the walls are lined with artwork featuring key scenes from the film. This room looks, to my eye, like it is geared for family's with younger guests.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Ok John... blah blah blah... how was the food? Well, I ordered the Tuna Nicoise salad and Kirk had Braised Pork. We both had water to drink and our total bill came to $26.14. My salad was very good and the tuna tasted surprisingly fresh. Kirk said that the pork was the best meal he had ever had at MK. (Of course anyone who has eaten at MK knows that's not that much of a recommendation - but the food was quite good). One interesting thing, Kirk realized after ordering that they give free refills for soda so he decided he wanted a soda. Thing is, they really don't have a good way of adding to your order. When he asked the CM at the drink station, she just told him to take some soda and she said it was his "pixie dust" for the day. So, overall I would say that Be Our Guest should be your top choice for lunch at MK. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvq4aTeB7PJGh7_X5gnpbcVk2ltk-sgrDzA0kQyaYHVrFgRf82zo5yxeRafaNKfx4WLgm03zY5sVwUUfi-uAhAql_N1_N6skYI9EAfTnwyXtPHyhgJt42oTjZs2sQa_hNnrRkN8BUYVQ/s1600/IMG_1341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvq4aTeB7PJGh7_X5gnpbcVk2ltk-sgrDzA0kQyaYHVrFgRf82zo5yxeRafaNKfx4WLgm03zY5sVwUUfi-uAhAql_N1_N6skYI9EAfTnwyXtPHyhgJt42oTjZs2sQa_hNnrRkN8BUYVQ/s640/IMG_1341.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Beasts Castle in the distance</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After lunch we did more park touring at MK. We got a FastPass (FP) for Peter Pan Flight (PP), then looked around New Fantasyland for a while before watching PhilharMagic. New Fantasyland is absolutely spectacular. The whole area has much more room now, something it sorely needed. Technically it is still under construction because the Seven Dwarfs Mins Train is not yet complete. It's unusual to see construction in WDW where you are able to view it up close. I was impressed with the size of the ride structure. I had imagined a smallish "kiddie" coaster. Not true - this is a massive undertaking and will be an awesome addition. Unfortunately right now it sort of divides New Fantasyland, making it impossible to get from the Enchanted Forest side to the Storybook Circus area without walking around the construction.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2EejHscmlfPYb3YPLK92Rf-UbUB9eB6-llf2TvxcjUkgbzg6HAkTB-o9EUcvSIAGMwBGYoVvHN9OmOlu-qPVIRDv28JWDzXR72A70ZNqr9JjfJwZcwK-Jt4fX1AeOUWMGD-W5Lk2hzQ/s1600/IMG_1340.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2EejHscmlfPYb3YPLK92Rf-UbUB9eB6-llf2TvxcjUkgbzg6HAkTB-o9EUcvSIAGMwBGYoVvHN9OmOlu-qPVIRDv28JWDzXR72A70ZNqr9JjfJwZcwK-Jt4fX1AeOUWMGD-W5Lk2hzQ/s640/IMG_1340.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mine Train construction</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We did not experience either of the two new attractions in new Fantasyland - Enchanted Tales with Belle and Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid. This was my fault. I want to experience them for the first time with my daughters - especially as Ariel (along with Repunzel) is Charlotte's favorite Disney princess. I did NOT however say I would not have my picture taken with Ariel who is my favorite as well! Still, when Kirk and I went to Ariel's Grotto, the wait was 40 minutes. I knew we were coming back and hoped I would have another chance.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Journey of the Little Mermaid ride building</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We then headed over to Tomorrowland for a ride on the People Mover, Carousel of Progress and Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor. Laugh Floor is interesting because each show is different - and this particular show was mediocre. We then got a FP for Space Mountain (SM) and rode PP using our FP. I wanted a Dole Whip but the afternoon parade had started and got in the way of me and my pineapple dessert. Kirk wanted to ride HM again but the line was too long so we headed back to Tomorrowland and sat while we waited for our SM FP time. Once our time came up we rode SM and left the park about 4:00.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">I needed to get over to Disney's Wide World of Sports (WWoS) to pick up my race packet. I should mention here that we had made 4 dinner reservations. Our first reservation was for Boma in the Animal Kingdom Lodge at 5:00. We also had reservations at Le Cellier and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Monsieur Paul in Epcot as well as The Brown Derby at Disney Hollywood Studios. We had decided to cancel the Monsieur Paul reservation, then my return flight changed so we needed to cancel Le Cellier. Well now here we were leaving MK later than expected so our Boma reservation was looking iffy as well.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkm6ziZhsj1ds-zjfQW2Ot_sw877iy9x2zjku0Qzu2FMvpevxh9tviJaKQTEukIUIpaPAamGZDsN2gqV2y7ChZmsKAEVeyxVk3GnttO0GydSM0BLgNCBkLEVvp2RLHQ_dH4sqIjerOu_c/s1600/IMG_1295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkm6ziZhsj1ds-zjfQW2Ot_sw877iy9x2zjku0Qzu2FMvpevxh9tviJaKQTEukIUIpaPAamGZDsN2gqV2y7ChZmsKAEVeyxVk3GnttO0GydSM0BLgNCBkLEVvp2RLHQ_dH4sqIjerOu_c/s640/IMG_1295.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My racing bib</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We caught the monorail back to the Ticket and Transportation Center, got back to Kirk's car and headed over to WWoS. As soon as we got there it was clear that we would not make our Boma reservation - WWoS was extremely busy with a line of cars going in and - more important - a huge line coming out. So I called Disney dining and cancelled our reservation. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We were directed to a building where I filled out a waiver and picked up my racing bib and a bag I was told I should use for bag check at the race. From there I was told to go to the Health Expo at the Josten's Center to pick up my shirt. One thing I would have done differently - I would have given myself about 2 or 3 hours (as well as $200 or $300 dollars) to spend at the expo. It was awesome! I wish we could have spent more time there. For one thing there was a lot of race specific merchandise - a lot of it was very cool stuff. One thing I noticed was a booth for a company that makes something called "<a href="https://www.thestick.com/" target="_blank">the stick</a>" - a sort of roller bar used to knead out aching muscles. My chiropractor recommended this to me for my knees and it worked wonders. I stopped by their booth and told them how much I liked their product - they seemed to appreciate it.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me with Jeff Galloway</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We were starting to leave when I heard over the PA system that running guru Jeff Galloway was greeting people at the runDisney booth. Now, I read Galloway's book and i have to say that without his advice, and without his "run walk run" method, I'm not sure I could have done this race. I had to meet him. So we went to the runDisney booth and I waited for a few minutes to chat with him. What a great guy! he could not have been more gracious. The weather was expected to be unseasonably warm on race day so Jeff was advising folks to take it easy. In my case he asked what my "walk run" interval was. I told him 2 minutes/1 minute. He suggested I start at 30 seconds/30 seconds and go no higher than </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">1 minute/30 seconds. I thanked him and we left.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">TIP: Plan to spend time at the Health Expo!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We left WWoS and, as expected, the traffic leaving was pretty bad. Although we had cancelled Boma we still needed dinner so we went to the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. I had a salad and a french dip sandwich and Kirk had meatloaf. The salad was good and the sandwich was OK, Kirk said his meatloaf was passable.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After dinner Kirk kindly took me to Goodings so I could get some epsom salts. I packed a tub for soaking my feet with my luggage, but I did not want to pack epsom salts and I knew I would want to soak my feet after the marathon.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Before heading back to the room Kirk was kind enough to take me to Goodings so I could get some fresh fruit and epson salts - two things I figured I would need the next day. As we drove Kirk complained that his car was pulling to one side and it felt as if the breaks were being applied. Then, just as we pulled into OKW, smoke started pouring from the front passenger side wheel. Clearly something was amiss. More on that later.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Kirk dropped me off at OKW around 8 so I could try to get some sleep. It was Extra Magic Hours night at DHS so Kirk headed back there. I set my alarm for 2:30 and also called in for a wakeup call for 2:30 just in case. Then, as I lay in bed trying to sleep, I suddenly realized that I had no idea how I was going to get to the race. So, I called the front desk. They told me that there was going to be one and only one bus at 3:00 to take folks to the race. Also, the bus was going to leave from the Hospitality House which was a 10 or 15 minute walk from our building. So, I asked to change the wakeup call to 2:00 just to be safe. With that I tried to get some sleep.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Here are shortcuts to all the entries in this blog:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/intro-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january-2013.html" target="_blank">Intro and Day 1</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-race-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january.html" target="_blank">Day 2 and the Race</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/park-day-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january.html" target="_blank">Day 3 in the Parks</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/final-day-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january.html" target="_blank">Final Day 4</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">H</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ere are some quick links to some of the more popular posts:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-intro.html" target="_blank">Europe trip 2012 including Santorini Greece, Athens and London</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/kirk-john-2012-dc-and-williamsburg-va.html" target="_blank">John & Kirk go to Williamsburg VA and Washington DC</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/trip-to-orlando-august-2010-intro-and.html">Orlando 2010 including Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-intro.html">Adventures with my good friend Kirk including Walt Disney World, Vegas, Disneyland and more</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/walt-disney-world-daddydaughter-jaunt.html">A Daddy/Daughter jaunt to Walt Disney World in 1998</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/southern-california-2002-intro.html">A trip to Southern California including Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/disney-world-middle-school-trip-may_2840.html">Middle School Rock Band trip to Walt Disney World 2010</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/key-west-fl-2002.html">Key West 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/south-east-florida-january-2012.html">South East Florida 2012</a></span><br />
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<br />John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-26479693930507768712013-01-27T17:56:00.001-08:002013-01-27T18:05:59.668-08:00The Race: John & Kirk in WDW for January 2013 Marathon Weekend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The Race: Day 2</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The wakeup call came at 2:00 but I was already awake. The weather was quite warm - unseasonably so - with lows of about 60°. In fact we had left the door to the patio open while we slept both nights. Since I was already awake I turned off my iPhone alarm. I got up and dressed in my running clothes. runDisney had provided us with a large plastic bag for bag check during the race but I did not think I needed to check anything. I was planning to come back to the room to change after the race and it was warm enough I did not need to bring sweater or anything so I didn't bother bringing anything to check.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">I walked from my room to the Hospitality House, where the bus was to pick us up. I was quite early - about 25 minutes so. There was already two other runners there. We sat and chatted for a while - mostly all sharing the fact that we had not slept well the night before and how warm the weather was. The message of the day was that it was expected to get hot so stay hydrated. While we sat there a bus pulled up but it was not our bus. The driver opened the door and chatted with us for a while. He talked about how the only exercise he gets is doing the "12-ounce curl". He also said "At least you have nice weather - last week at this time of day it was 40</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">°." He closed the door and pulled away. All of the runners looked at each other and someone voiced what we were all thinking - "40</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">° would have been awesome!"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Our bus pulled up about 2:45. We all got in and watched a runDisney video with information and tips. One tidbit - the buses would <i>start</i> running at 3:00 and continue every 20 minutes. So this was <i>not</i> the only bus and I could have easily slept another half hour if not more. Oh well, live and learn.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">By the time the bus left at 3:00 a few more runners had boarded. We made our way to an area in the Epcot parking lot that had been set up as the main gathering place for the races. Here they had a bunch of benches and tables set up and there were lots of tents for vendors and such. There was also a stage with a DJ talking and playing music. I noticed one huge line of folks waiting to have their picture taken (with a character? I hate to admit I don't recall) in front of a runDisney backdrop. I opted to skip this.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">There were also smaller tents set up for some of the major running teams. One of these teams was the one organized for <a href="http://allears.net/">AllEars.net</a>. As I passed by the tent I saw <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/108224698223754995228" target="_blank">+Deb Wills</a> who I had met some 15 years earlier <a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/walt-disney-world-daddydaughter-jaunt.html" target="_blank">on a trip to WDW</a> and I had spoken with a few weeks earlier on a live podcast of <a href="http://www.wdwtoday.com/" target="_blank">WDW Today</a>. Deb had told me in Twitter that she would be in the cheer squad at miles 1 and 11 so I should look for her. I almost stopped to say hello when I saw her in the tent but she was talking to some other folk so I did not want to bother her.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">One of the larger tents was the Race Retreat tent. This was a space that you had to pay extra for ($110 if I recall) where there was seating, food and drinks, extra facilities (read: out houses) etc. At the advice of Mike Scopa from WDW Today I opted to take advantage of this. Honestly with the weather what it was it was probably not necessary, but it was still nice to have a place to relax. When I walked up to the tent I was told that I was supposed to have picked up a wrist band at the expo the night before, but they had a list there which they checked and gave me the wristband there. Inside there were lots of tables and chairs as well as tables of food (bagels and fruit), coffee, water and juice.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">As I had gotten there pretty early it was not terribly crowded. As the morning progressed the crowds grew bigger - both in the Race Retreat tent as well as outside. As there was quite a bit of time to kill I meandered around, had a bite to eat (but no coffee - experience has taught me to avoid coffee before running), and chatted with other runners. I also alternated between being inside the tent and outside. At one point I was sitting at a table chatting with some folks when one of the CMs there told us that Tinkerbell was taking pictures. I could see that the line was not long so I went for it.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Tinkerbell was there with one of her pixie friends. A woman in line behind me told me that there is a whole series of videos with Tinkerbell and her friends - something I was aware of but as my kids are too old for that I am not familiar with them. At first I was not sure if the other pixie was a girl or a boy but when I got closer I could see it was a boy. He was dressed in brown with a hat that looked like a acorn cap. When my turn came I walked up to Tink and said "I know you're Tinkerbell, but..." - turning to the other pixie - "you I don't know." He introduced himself as "Terrence" and went on quite shpeil (sp?) about his job which had something to do with throwing pixie dust or something. I was not quite sure. One thing I noticed about Tinkerbell was how bright her blue eyes were. The cynic in me wondered if they were contacts.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me with Tinkerbell and friend</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">At about 5:00 the DJ started announcing that folks should start making their way to the starting corrals. At this point you could really see just what a huge crowd this was. We walked for quite a bit - I'd say close to 1/2 mile. I noticed a row of outhouses along the way with a huge line - I wisely waited until later as there was a second set closer to the corrals with much shorter lines. TIP: do use the facilities provided <i>before</i> the race if you can - I could see that the lines for the facilities along the race route - especially in the beginning - were long and the waiting would cut into your race time. There were 8 corrals labeled A-H and I was in "F". I got to my corral and waited for us to start.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making our way to the corrals</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Not long after I got to the corral I heard fireworks and a loud cheer indicating the start of the race. I listened to the announcer shout out to different running teams, folks dressed in costume and even the occasional celebrity ("There's Richard Simmons! Hi Richard!"). As each corral started they would have Donald Duck count down and another, smaller set of fireworks were set off. After about 20 minutes or so our corral started moving forward toward the starting gate. Finally it was our turn and and after Donald's countdown and another set of fireworks we were off!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starting fireworks</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fireworks for the start of corral F</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passing under the starting gate</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The race started near Epcot. It then went up one of the roads to Magic Kingdom (Apologies - I am not familiar with the names of the WDW roads so I'm not sure what road it was.) All along the route to MK there was entertainment including character photo opportunities and bands playing. Now, bear in mind when you read this that by the time I actually passed under the starting gate I think about 40 minutes had passed since the first runners started. Anyway, not long after the first mile marker I saw some folks running in the other direction in the roadway across the divider. A bunch of folks from our side cheered them on. I realized that the other side was the return route - at about mile 11 or so - and that those folks were <i>the first runners already finishing the race! </i>I could hardly believe it - I had just started and they were almost done!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">I mentioned the mile markers and all the entertainment on the route. I tried to get pictures of all the markers but some of them didn't come out. I also took pictures of some other stuff I thought was cool. Here are some of the pictures I took:</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Captain Jack and Barbarosa</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entering the MK area</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mile marker 3</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQ2gT35pOsqptKzqbogHO-RROsRpp7OeqAJpF5NflrUzECw1UrhKbT6OLwrO-IBARzAgesQJ63y4Tdm_-c0uFT6VtFfQujYOTSqkUZ52SahZCkpBX1XCGTYIRcY2e44_8pYOE2zH_0V0/s1600/IMG_1318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQ2gT35pOsqptKzqbogHO-RROsRpp7OeqAJpF5NflrUzECw1UrhKbT6OLwrO-IBARzAgesQJ63y4Tdm_-c0uFT6VtFfQujYOTSqkUZ52SahZCkpBX1XCGTYIRcY2e44_8pYOE2zH_0V0/s640/IMG_1318.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mile marker 5. And my finger.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyQvBgVnCQSY_tzzUlhV_R6LkDHohtfZ_yRtNZfVel6piyLAr0Q21qUqcZS0jXXOn-0wrCR-E_PXoLlviNOXk2t4i_kJuO3dVU33w7QYmLlB9csvtEVFj95p2JGluoYpQHoi2SajoVPw/s1600/IMG_1319.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyQvBgVnCQSY_tzzUlhV_R6LkDHohtfZ_yRtNZfVel6piyLAr0Q21qUqcZS0jXXOn-0wrCR-E_PXoLlviNOXk2t4i_kJuO3dVU33w7QYmLlB9csvtEVFj95p2JGluoYpQHoi2SajoVPw/s640/IMG_1319.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entering MK into Main Street from back stage - pretty cool</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji2CUwNQVnU4a4E2_ToLshRSsBNKOPSNPvMBy_j9cXkTI49TUv8vbo37rGFSRx8UvlG6eVKJauVEScsGTFy9NDzOLFgnNiTta8wHt3gVooFkfShL-gmt6_q4X7r__FqPzXHn0HycgDQuk/s1600/IMG_1320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji2CUwNQVnU4a4E2_ToLshRSsBNKOPSNPvMBy_j9cXkTI49TUv8vbo37rGFSRx8UvlG6eVKJauVEScsGTFy9NDzOLFgnNiTta8wHt3gVooFkfShL-gmt6_q4X7r__FqPzXHn0HycgDQuk/s640/IMG_1320.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running down Main Street - what could be better?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwxrVHMW8l4pknjOyFjh8pvkeAmCOublR0y_clD_P8VXL2eqYIU1d-HbqUupUsabs9sLTrn5G_KcxeKOChhEC5OkCvIChPVjq67aAUgv3XqyCkGyEn6M-jKJbiSznFZYl_zZwjBqcGBfA/s1600/jtrunningcastle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwxrVHMW8l4pknjOyFjh8pvkeAmCOublR0y_clD_P8VXL2eqYIU1d-HbqUupUsabs9sLTrn5G_KcxeKOChhEC5OkCvIChPVjq67aAUgv3XqyCkGyEn6M-jKJbiSznFZYl_zZwjBqcGBfA/s640/jtrunningcastle.jpg" width="422" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice background, eh?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAEW_7pGlPoMytUg4KbdoPs8fUWFAyNrYRHxjnTpfqD0A0U19Wfxarmzg2H4iiIMN3hbJlQhRHUiNukEclfh1qImB7M6lOgxzNWaDKUxoPPP6P7F6kvsyDRYxzqxG1Q3Y9nHCyjiw9WC8/s1600/IMG_1323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAEW_7pGlPoMytUg4KbdoPs8fUWFAyNrYRHxjnTpfqD0A0U19Wfxarmzg2H4iiIMN3hbJlQhRHUiNukEclfh1qImB7M6lOgxzNWaDKUxoPPP6P7F6kvsyDRYxzqxG1Q3Y9nHCyjiw9WC8/s640/IMG_1323.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The WDW railroad - how awesome is that?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEkpCHL1uYvDrvGUugI3nFgTEAH7lwl_aR9KQUf1tygQQ-HzxJ2a1ldp4H_DdMHCA_vgAU-lgvxRFGvXGock_9Hj_j5vrq921cuFIaI6_JSPAEkZYjqYzCSYygrVVDKD8lI9l1tKxeKU/s1600/IMG_1322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEkpCHL1uYvDrvGUugI3nFgTEAH7lwl_aR9KQUf1tygQQ-HzxJ2a1ldp4H_DdMHCA_vgAU-lgvxRFGvXGock_9Hj_j5vrq921cuFIaI6_JSPAEkZYjqYzCSYygrVVDKD8lI9l1tKxeKU/s640/IMG_1322.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mile marker 6 inside MK</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJ8fCb_Y1Yraju-likGgBrAgX-_6WtdSJO2oJcf4gUXJeFqUJQAOyHB5zToQ4-4aX8MN8I5VlrRA5dG8dnhOoyiCoDKbHBw5mZdWVb1bk3NV711OfwQx2FuoU8Oyq0gyJ29UmBHDb2tM/s1600/IMG_1324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJ8fCb_Y1Yraju-likGgBrAgX-_6WtdSJO2oJcf4gUXJeFqUJQAOyHB5zToQ4-4aX8MN8I5VlrRA5dG8dnhOoyiCoDKbHBw5mZdWVb1bk3NV711OfwQx2FuoU8Oyq0gyJ29UmBHDb2tM/s640/IMG_1324.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Backstage area leaving MK via Frontierland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">As you can probably imagine, I had a huge grin on my face all the way through the Magic Kingdom. After leaving MK we made our way back to Epcot. There was a stretch of highway on the way to Epcot that was particularly rough. It was an open stretch with no shade and the sun had come up so it was getting hot. I usually hit a wall at about 8 miles, I broke through that just fine but then the heat was getting to me up until about mile 10. They had plenty of water and poweraide stations set up along the route and I made use of all of them so I was plenty hydrated. However, the literature promised fuel halfway through, so I only brought 2 gel packs when I would have normally brought 3 or 4. Well, by the time we got to the fuel stations they were all out so I had to make due with the 2 I had brought. Luckily I had eaten at the Race Retreat,</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Here are some pics from the second half of the race including more shots of me taken by the photographers they had stationed along the route:</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZHrpVM8tnhskbdpnlqZvzEsZwDhX7qSwyDIjr2poUOaUPxSdzJjheiE8LxpuCBYHtmpc2Dq5DaL3c6YP3i8cuBqhLXqnpMAV1Pw3tR6DNj3XJyu3lYsPFnvaRmbTKXhBizizgggSTZs/s1600/IMG_1325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZHrpVM8tnhskbdpnlqZvzEsZwDhX7qSwyDIjr2poUOaUPxSdzJjheiE8LxpuCBYHtmpc2Dq5DaL3c6YP3i8cuBqhLXqnpMAV1Pw3tR6DNj3XJyu3lYsPFnvaRmbTKXhBizizgggSTZs/s640/IMG_1325.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mile marker 7</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbINOPWJk6ZecKRaEbPMdrSXYWSUIbrZkCQXzzVcsL6nXrORH2fM0nXSTGXS_sCztGheXe8O2ZhKzk9VZ7VDbIjcdAivxHlzISEH8GRWIYHaAzh9eNhMajHQvyOT3lARGP-vc_WP3LbKA/s1600/IMG_1321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbINOPWJk6ZecKRaEbPMdrSXYWSUIbrZkCQXzzVcsL6nXrORH2fM0nXSTGXS_sCztGheXe8O2ZhKzk9VZ7VDbIjcdAivxHlzISEH8GRWIYHaAzh9eNhMajHQvyOT3lARGP-vc_WP3LbKA/s640/IMG_1321.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Princess and the Frog is one of Nat's favs so I had to take this to send to her</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNNhg1nT6tJ-sW2jeMgyc68xkN0hLPxqXc200eMjIXFIsYgONlPdzKzvXNguB8E0-jHkNuMEjWPD7d8yJWW7v3zyPdersBcW_Kf-xhJG-zZreo1TkAWxKHEjvB5IeeSvBJZhs6Ji5Du4/s1600/IMG_1326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNNhg1nT6tJ-sW2jeMgyc68xkN0hLPxqXc200eMjIXFIsYgONlPdzKzvXNguB8E0-jHkNuMEjWPD7d8yJWW7v3zyPdersBcW_Kf-xhJG-zZreo1TkAWxKHEjvB5IeeSvBJZhs6Ji5Du4/s640/IMG_1326.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mile marker 8</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgltKMhBtELAXJed23Uv-yHr61lO06pllgwZVQdl8BHmOc1K-2ODqP8mLoG9hhJYUVc5gvOuMnvKqlOKjsbZbF1o477aK3Z814Nz3YMtrKxl1OxDf3kWwVvj4kjrdmUNYW_xhWGZpS90o8/s1600/IMG_1328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgltKMhBtELAXJed23Uv-yHr61lO06pllgwZVQdl8BHmOc1K-2ODqP8mLoG9hhJYUVc5gvOuMnvKqlOKjsbZbF1o477aK3Z814Nz3YMtrKxl1OxDf3kWwVvj4kjrdmUNYW_xhWGZpS90o8/s640/IMG_1328.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mile marker 9</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After I passed mile marker 10 the rest was a blur. I could not believe how fast it all went. That said, as if a cruel joke, the was one last hill just before getting to Epcot as we climbed a highway overpass. We entered Epcot and I could see guests there starting their day in the park. It was unclear to me how they managed the runners with the park traffic, but I was too busy enjoying the experience of running through my favorite Disney park to worry much about it. As we went through Epcot I started getting really excited - I was actually going to do this!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFRALOQFORcdPrI_gJ-Bd9LKTisJ2UBcdjO9L7mppbKZMhh1pe0ZzOGroFd7LehQh7hRrFSh1f2FejswnEnu7DPl-rvmoBfg4C1lIBwWETZ1qi4zAW9Z7G4eDyBhb5bSA0IEeo357WUE/s1600/IMG_1330.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFRALOQFORcdPrI_gJ-Bd9LKTisJ2UBcdjO9L7mppbKZMhh1pe0ZzOGroFd7LehQh7hRrFSh1f2FejswnEnu7DPl-rvmoBfg4C1lIBwWETZ1qi4zAW9Z7G4eDyBhb5bSA0IEeo357WUE/s640/IMG_1330.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mile marker 11</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxB-dsoU2_p0CW7QS8Pr2BXi5GdP820vsV2P26kRqyNi3s5yWosq9yQfpKnAHenGmLIGd4QkXYA122sj00d4HsoF7yvcM7aq6Eb1BYemv1vCgM2GRr5w-zDQW9guWp00McgQSZHRSem0/s1600/IMG_1331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxB-dsoU2_p0CW7QS8Pr2BXi5GdP820vsV2P26kRqyNi3s5yWosq9yQfpKnAHenGmLIGd4QkXYA122sj00d4HsoF7yvcM7aq6Eb1BYemv1vCgM2GRr5w-zDQW9guWp00McgQSZHRSem0/s640/IMG_1331.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mile marker 12</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinoB29YSNfcYZLJSFY2d6mcpKBvBPXsq5zJ8_Vd9pPwL54BeDv5gvfzz9RJsoduX6DJXWWcIGwsgPLH0DKvtl3WAXkQSjhGw_IRIzJ5UPT5Qq1iHQQ87iJ1n5spQm1oHVOEoxOJ7QlnFY/s1600/IMG_1332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinoB29YSNfcYZLJSFY2d6mcpKBvBPXsq5zJ8_Vd9pPwL54BeDv5gvfzz9RJsoduX6DJXWWcIGwsgPLH0DKvtl3WAXkQSjhGw_IRIzJ5UPT5Qq1iHQQ87iJ1n5spQm1oHVOEoxOJ7QlnFY/s640/IMG_1332.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entering Epcot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgronQ5jAVcEbel1IUHmtH2OaAjxJJ07DxBuY6uz8gxmWOWCKtaDlyveE_6aAgFJTsKdokDmwJn4pjV8JOoz-dPTRNJz6Y6Vf5aTf2OGLe8ol_VRLWHweCwaL8FzMjjTp9qCC2x8dztY6M/s1600/jtrunninggeosphere.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgronQ5jAVcEbel1IUHmtH2OaAjxJJ07DxBuY6uz8gxmWOWCKtaDlyveE_6aAgFJTsKdokDmwJn4pjV8JOoz-dPTRNJz6Y6Vf5aTf2OGLe8ol_VRLWHweCwaL8FzMjjTp9qCC2x8dztY6M/s640/jtrunninggeosphere.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another nice background</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyFq2WjjvkM1OX4hl5bSpVjHurfS1Ii7auJMrfm9pebKgQvARB4ZbR7VRF9omQreEghqpXjWBzAik2C-cAnTHqE_Yf_F_Ql_kD8majmN8c3WmpPf9Bn5ugoF8qrgPo9sYd17hK3jeWOt0/s1600/jtrunningepcot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyFq2WjjvkM1OX4hl5bSpVjHurfS1Ii7auJMrfm9pebKgQvARB4ZbR7VRF9omQreEghqpXjWBzAik2C-cAnTHqE_Yf_F_Ql_kD8majmN8c3WmpPf9Bn5ugoF8qrgPo9sYd17hK3jeWOt0/s640/jtrunningepcot.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only picture they got of me where I don't look like a complete dufus</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After leaving Epcot we passed mile marker 13. Then the finish line! I did it!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ZUyXt8ASzHg2flHnZxTj6kp5jSFGIpmg-d62-Nj56ps499sxanQJLZ89fnXGjc1Luz2Kwn_cfIcIgKV1BKhTejOhIhdhDUwHbeG9O090CScFWsVDeu9rGSuXoRUbyU4hMYSxYogyC_4/s1600/IMG_1333.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ZUyXt8ASzHg2flHnZxTj6kp5jSFGIpmg-d62-Nj56ps499sxanQJLZ89fnXGjc1Luz2Kwn_cfIcIgKV1BKhTejOhIhdhDUwHbeG9O090CScFWsVDeu9rGSuXoRUbyU4hMYSxYogyC_4/s640/IMG_1333.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mile marker 13</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirrxPMS2O0f4mTUP3fL-vZJd106jkgiXFcy0v-va-YzxeeEED0seWYWdyMOv9ELzMbPrIpd6NaZz_bHh2cFxSUHUqhFW3szF2N9t55grYotz3vvOL_vBc3IimkN2AlbxZTH7IbzG9PPj8/s1600/jtrunningfinish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirrxPMS2O0f4mTUP3fL-vZJd106jkgiXFcy0v-va-YzxeeEED0seWYWdyMOv9ELzMbPrIpd6NaZz_bHh2cFxSUHUqhFW3szF2N9t55grYotz3vvOL_vBc3IimkN2AlbxZTH7IbzG9PPj8/s640/jtrunningfinish.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Across the finish line</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiicHt4L0Bn4ceUVXP9zPP_ZEkflIv6Y_vJr7hEnHPb0ZfsNpSyQ06vX94CI2GcNWwxzMqAgr1zUNbsPP20j6cc5rrz2y3ZdQU9ZPTrmoxWpLM4p1y1vQudVLUsQo2xJkdW_787TYLmXUE/s1600/jtrunningmedal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiicHt4L0Bn4ceUVXP9zPP_ZEkflIv6Y_vJr7hEnHPb0ZfsNpSyQ06vX94CI2GcNWwxzMqAgr1zUNbsPP20j6cc5rrz2y3ZdQU9ZPTrmoxWpLM4p1y1vQudVLUsQo2xJkdW_787TYLmXUE/s640/jtrunningmedal.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finisher!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirYIM2JqSrdTn1mBBWTsMgoCMy4MYnmTYaa2ndtodihwoPMSwVX315_lk1Go6IBNWkW6qFxUBRYSYSMrM9ZgsigZxHfY0D1Pd1g-y0876UAWMhuj34PHKTwlWuXcXV3QTUeE7uchss33M/s1600/photo+%25286%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirYIM2JqSrdTn1mBBWTsMgoCMy4MYnmTYaa2ndtodihwoPMSwVX315_lk1Go6IBNWkW6qFxUBRYSYSMrM9ZgsigZxHfY0D1Pd1g-y0876UAWMhuj34PHKTwlWuXcXV3QTUeE7uchss33M/s640/photo+%25286%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Medal!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">OK, now having gone through this I would like to share some tips:</span></span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">I took a wash cloth from the room, folded in and tucked it into my shorts so I could use it to mop my forehead. This was a really good idea.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">I started in the back of the coral because I was planning to walk/run and I did not want to get in anyone's way. OK, <i>everyone</i> back where us human beings lived were doing walk/run. Well, almost everyone. Do yourself a favor - get to the fron of your coral.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Bring what fuel you need. Do not count on any being provided.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">When you go through MK and make the turn at the hub with Tomorrowland on your right... use the restrooms! They are clean and <i>empty</i>!Yes, that's right, even <i>more</i> facility related stuff - this is important!</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">When you get to a water station, don't go to the first person. Go to the folks on the end.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After the race I collected my medal and went back to the race retreat for breakfast. I was sore, hot, tired and hungry. I had heard that protein and carbs are important after a long run so I had eggs, sausage, fruit and a roll. It may not have been gourmet but it tasted great! I then walked out and went to the race gear tent where I bought a t-shirt that had "half the distance, twice the fun" written on it with Donald and the half marathon logo, as well as a half marathon hat. Finally I joined the very long line for the bus and headed back to OKW.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The bus dropped me off at the Hospitality House so I still had to walk to my room. There was another runner making the same trek as I was and we agreed that making us walk to our room was cruel and unusual punishment. I had arranged to meet Kirk at The Brown Derby (BD) in Disney Hollywood Studios (DHS) for a 1:00 reservation (our one remaining reservation) so I didn't have a lot of time. When I got to the room I took a shower, soaked my feet for a bit, got dressed and headed back out. I was a bit worried about whether I had given myself enough time to make make the reservation. TIP: don't schedule anything for the afternoon after the race.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">On the bus ride to DHS I chatted with a couple of women who were also running. One of them said something interesting - that I had just done something that only about 1% of the worlds population have done. Made me feel pretty good. Well, as it turns out I had no problem getting to DHS in time. In fact I got there a bit early. I hoped that perhaps Kirk might also be there early and perhaps we could get FPs for Toy Story Midway Mania (TSMM). I went to BD to see if Kirk was there, and when I saw he wasn't I went to check the attraction board to see what the FP time was for TSMM. The FP time was after 6:00 which meant we could not make it as we were planning to do the final 6:30 performance of Fantasmic. So, TSMM was out for me.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">I went back to BD and sat down, waiting for Kirk to show. At about 12:40 I got a call from Kirk. It seems he decided to take his car to the shop to fix the problem with his brakes. Unfortunately the mechanic ordered the wrong parts so he was running late. I went to the podium and the CM told me that we should just come back any time.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">I had not yet seen the new Star Tours (ST) so I headed over there. ST is now in 3D, with new digital special effects and multiple scenes that are combined in a random manner to provide multiple experiences. When I got there the sign said a 10 minute wait - it ended up being basically a walk-on. Now, I've done the Disneyland version of ST many times in the past, and I know I have been on the WDW version but not nearly as many times. I write this because I am not sure how many changes were made to the queue area of the WDW version. The anamatronics are clearly more advanced than those in Disneyland, but I'm not sure if they are new to WDW. At any rate, they look awesome. While I was in the (short) line I talked to a couple of folks - one of whom had done the half marathon and was doing the Goofy (running both marathons).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">As for the ride itself - it is a vast improvement over what was already an amazing and - at one time - groundbreaking attraction. The 3D effects are absolutely perfect. The film is broken into 4 sections and these are alternated in a random manner to create unique experiences. There in an introductory section, then the first planet you visit, then a message from the rebel alliance where one of the passengers is identified as a "rebel spy", then a second planet. All of the stories (at least the ones I saw) involve C3PO having to fly the ship because the captain is not there. In my first ride the intro was of Darth Vader threatening the ship, the first planet was the "Wooki planet", the message was from General Akbar and the second planet was Naboo. The Naboo segment ended with the nose of another ship breaking through the windshield and sticking out into the audience - very convincing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After riding ST I decided I wanted to do it again but the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular show had just let out so the line suddenly got long. So, instead I went to the Sci-Fi Dine In and sat at the Tune In Lounge and ordered a beer. After I finished the beer I did ST again. Again the sign said 10 minutes and it was a walk-on. This time I saw the same Darth Vader intro but the first planet was Tatooine (where we went on a pod race), the message was from Yoda and the second planet was Corousant. My third trip (again a walk-on) had an intro of Storm Troopers and droids trying to destroy the ship, the pod race and Yoda again ending in Naboo.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After my third ride on ST I called the garage and asked to speak to Kirk. He told me that they were almost done and he hoped to be at DHS in about 30 minutes. We agreed to meet at the end of Sunset Blvd where we would get FPs for either Rock 'n Roller Coaster (RnRC) or Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (TZToT). I decided to use this opportunity to rest up a bit so I sat down next to Scoops Ice Cream. There I ran into another young woman who had run the half and we discussed the experience.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Kirk finally showed and we got FPs for RnRC for 4:50. We then walked to BD for a late lunch/early dinner. Kirk told me that he had gone to DHS the night before and was able to experience TSMM as well as TZToT and RnRC several times.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We arrived at BD about 3:00 and were seated right away. The interior of BD has a nice, old-school Hollywood elegance with dark wood trim and furnishings, and wrought iron accents. The cream colored stucco walls have an old Mexican hacienda feel with </span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">a rough texture and soft edges. The walls are lined with cartoonish portraits of old Hollywood celebrities of different styles reminiscent of Sardi's in New york, which I have been to a few times.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">When we arrived at BD we were told that, as I had made the Fantasmic dinner reservation (dinner plus guaranteed seats for Fantasmic), we were entitled to a pre-fixe dinner of appetizer, main course and dessert for $59 each. Neither Kirk nor I would have ordered that much on our own, but, dammit, if we were paying $59 each we were going to get our money's </span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">worth! We both ordered the appetizer size Cob Salad (a speciality of BD that I knew from the get-go that I wanted to try) and the Filet Mingon. For dessert Kirk order the </span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Banana White Chocolate Toffee Tower (without the Bananas "Foster") and I had the Grapefruit Cake (another speciality of the house).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The food was quite good. The Cob Salad was a nice mixture of tastes. The server will ask it you want them to "mix it up" for you - I opted to do this but Kirk did not. The steak was a good quality filet - it was tender as you would expect a filet to be and cooked correctly. Kirk said his dessert was quite good. My cake was delicious - I would recommend ordering it if you like the taste of grapefruit (as I do). My only complaint with the cake was that the outside, large end - which is usually my favorite part of a cake as it is covered in frosting - was dry and rather tasteless. Otherwise it was very good. The service was OK. Kirk had asked to have his dessert first - when I got my salad. The wait for the main course was a bit long and Kirk said he would have preferred if they had gone ahead and brought his salad too. Also, Kirk had asked for no chives on his salad and I noticed that they forgot to leave these off.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After dinner we went to the end of Sunset Blvd. to experience two of our favorite attractions - RnRC and TZToT. First we got 5:40 FPs for TZToT, then we rode both RnRC and TZToT using our FPs. By the time we were done it was 6:00 and time to take out seats for the 6:30 viewing of Fantasmic. The seats for the Fantasmic dinner are in the last section to the right. A complaint I have often heard about the Fantasmic dinner is that you pay extra for the privelege and the seats are not very good. Also, now that there are more shows throughout the week, it's not that difficult to get in. Indeed, the show we saw was not sold out - it was perhaps 80% full. Now, I agree that the dinner show package was not worth it and if I had it to do over again I would not have opted for it. I don't agree that the seats are lousy though - to my mind all the seats are good. I suppose the center section is the best, but the way the show is laid out you can get a good view from any seat. One good thing was we were able to sit in the front row of the section which is nice.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">This was, I think, the third time I've seen Fantasmic. I have only seen the Disneyland version once many years ago when it first opened. I have to say I did not get what all the fuss is about. That said, this is a show that grows on you and I must say that I enjoy the WDW version a lot and have liked it better with each viewing. The next time I go to Disneyland I am going to make a point of seeing Fantasmic again to see if my opinion changes.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">A quick fun side note about Fantasmic - and I want to say I've read this somewhere or heard it on a podcast - but one character you see on one of the boats in Fantasmic that, to my knowledge, is not seen anywhere else, is Meg from Hercules. Cool seeing one of the not-seen-so-often characters. I tried pointing her out to Kirk - who has never seen Hercules - but by the time I noticed her on the boat it had already passed by.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Kirk had driven to DHS so after Fantasmic we made our way out and drove back to OKW. By now I was really feeling the effects of the half marathon and the Jacuzzi at OKW was calling my name. Loudly. Now you may recall that the OKW CM at the front desk had mislead me about when the race buses ran. Well, at another point I had also asked about the Jacuzzis because there was a note in our room about Jacuzzi refurbs and I wanted to make sure I knew where the nearest Jacuzzi to my room was. The CM at that time told me I'd need to go all the way to the Hospitality House. Well, I did not want to walk that far and Kirk was not planning to join me and I did not want to make him drive. So, when we got to OKW we needed to stop at the Hospitality House so I went to the front desk and asked again. They said no, there was a Jacuzzi at the pool right by our building. So I had been misinformed again.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Ahhhh... the Jacuzzi felt awesome. There were a few other folks there including one guy who had also run the half marathon that day and was planning to run the next day as well, therefore completing the Goofy. That was one of the unexpected pleasures of the trip, everywhere I went I ran into other runners and we exchanged stories, thoughts and tips. It really was one of the high points of the trip. Kirk did not use the Jacuzzi but he did come out and sit by the pool for a while. He went in before me - I was just enjoying that Jacuzzi - as well as the company of the other folks there - too much to go in. But finally exhaustion settled in and I called it a night. What an awesome day.</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Here are shortcuts to all the entries in this blog:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/intro-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january-2013.html" target="_blank">Intro and Day 1</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-race-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january.html" target="_blank">Day 2 and the Race</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/park-day-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january.html" target="_blank">Day 3 in the Parks</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/final-day-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january.html" target="_blank">Final Day 4</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">H</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ere are some quick links to some of the more popular posts:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-intro.html" target="_blank">Europe trip 2012 including Santorini Greece, Athens and London</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/kirk-john-2012-dc-and-williamsburg-va.html" target="_blank">John & Kirk go to Williamsburg VA and Washington DC</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/trip-to-orlando-august-2010-intro-and.html">Orlando 2010 including Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-intro.html">Adventures with my good friend Kirk including Walt Disney World, Vegas, Disneyland and more</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/walt-disney-world-daddydaughter-jaunt.html">A Daddy/Daughter jaunt to Walt Disney World in 1998</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/southern-california-2002-intro.html">A trip to Southern California including Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/disney-world-middle-school-trip-may_2840.html">Middle School Rock Band trip to Walt Disney World 2010</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/key-west-fl-2002.html">Key West 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/south-east-florida-january-2012.html">South East Florida 2012</a></span><br />
<br />John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-62393325989765022652013-01-27T17:56:00.000-08:002013-09-06T16:15:39.373-07:00Park Day: John & Kirk in WDW for January 2013 Marathon Weekend<br />
<b style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Park Day: Day 2</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The day after race day was to be a big park day for us. The plan was to go to Epcot in the morning, then switch to MK in the evening and enjoy the fireworks and the Castle light show. At 5:30 I was awakened by the sound of fireworks - the Full Marathon had started. I heard others staying at OKW mention how they were awakened in the same way on the day of the Half Marathon, and one woman said she could not get back to sleep because there were more fireworks every 5 minutes of so as each corral left. I expected the same and assumed that I would not fall back asleep, but I did fall asleep with no trouble. Still, we easily rose quite early since we had both gotten to bed pretty early the night before. I did hear the final corral leave, but that was the only one.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Kirk drove us to the Hospitality House. We had learned out lesson the morning before and planned to have breakfast at Good's, which opens at 7:00. Turns out they did not serve hot food until 7:30 anyway, which was not a problem as I usually have a light breakfast and Kirk is not much of a breakfast person anyway. For me the important thing is to have some fresh fruit (I had a banana as all the apples were waxed and I avoid waxed apples). I also has a cheese danish which tasted surprisingly fresh. Kirk just refilled his refillable cup with soda a couple of times.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We then we boarded the Epcot bus. On the bus I started chatting with a couple of women who has also run the half marathon. One of them told me that she had taken up running some years back but had to stop when she found that she needed a kidney transplant. She told me tat the kidney donor was a "live donor" - a man who had been an avid runner but had to stop running because of his knees. She said he was thrilled because she was "taking his kidney out for a run". These are the kinds of stories you hear from folks - like the man I ran in to who did the half and would have loved to do the full marathon but, because of a heart condition, his doctor would not let him - that really make you realize what a passion some have for the sport. And I can say that - sore feet and all - I am now one of them.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Anyway, as I was so busy chatting with other runners I was not paying attention to where we were going. Kirk broke in and said "Do you see where we are? We're at the Magic Kingdom!" Well, technically we were at the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC). Of course, it made perfect sense. Because of the marathon they were limiting buses going to Epcot, so they took us to the TTC to board a monorail. This turned out to be serendipitous because, once we got there, Kirk (who had heard me talk about the crowds at Epcot during the half marathon) suggested that perhaps we should rethink our plan and go to MK first. I wasn't crazy about the idea because we wanted to be back at MK for the fireworks and I wasn't crazy about the thought of going back and forth between Epcot and MK twice. Still, looking at the number of folks going to Epcot vs. MK, the logic of Kirk's plan soon won me over and we were off to MK.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The ferry was there and about to leave and Kirk and I have found that, if the ferry is there, it's the quickest way to MK, so we boarded. And it was immediately obvious that we were the <i>only</i> guests on the ferry. And I mean literally, not figuratively. The crew outnumbered us. That was pretty cool, having an entire ferry to ourselves. I wish I had asked one of the crew members to take a picture.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We got to the entrance of MK about 20 minutes before rope drop. We were at the entrance on the left side, right under the railroad underpass. The CM there made sure that everyone knew that our position was not a great one for watching the opening show - Kirk and I had both seen the show before so we were OK with that. The show started and we were able to listen, and I got a glimpse of the new "talking" Mickey which I pointed out to Kirk and is, I must say, quite cool. It came time for us to enter - and I was the second person through the turnstile which was pretty neat.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A quite empty Magic Kingdom</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Our plan was to see some of our favorite attractions before having an early lunch. First we got a FP for PP (9:40), then we rode HM followed by PotC. From there we went to Tomorrowland and got a FP for SM (10:35), rode Buzz Lightyear's Spin (my score was awful, Kirk did much better), used our PP FPs and finally used our SM FPs.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We talked about going to Pecos Bill for lunch, but after our experience at Be Our Guest we decided to go back there instead. As it was a bit earlier the line was a bit shorter. This time we sat in the West Wing, and while Kirk ordered braised pork again I decided on the croque monsieur. Kirk said the the braised pork was just as good as the first time (although a bit fatty). The croque monsieur, basically a grilled cheese and ham sandwich, was OK but not nearly as good as the salad I had on our first trip. I would not recommend it - there are better things on the menu.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gaston's Tavern next to Be Our Guest</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After lunch we went to see the length of the line at Ariel's Grotto again. The sign said 20 minutes so I decided to go for it. Kirk took the opportunity to ride HM again. The wait ended up to be more like 15 minutes.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Ariel</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">When I sat next to Ariel she looked at my half marathon t-shirt and we had the following exchange:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Ariel: Did you run yesterday?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Me: I did. Did you?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Ariel: (looking at her fins) Well...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Me: Well, at least I'm sure you could beat me swimming.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Ariel: I could swim a triathlon!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After my visit with Ariel I met up with Kirk and we headed out. While I was waiting I ran into a CM near the new Repunzel tower. I mentioned that I heard it was going to be a Repunzel meet and greet. She told me that was the rumor, but all that has been confirmed is a new rest room. Well, I guess that <i>is </i>necessary... On the way out we saw that the piano player next to Casey's on Main Street so we stopped to listen for a while. After that we went out and took the monorail to Epcot by way of the TTC.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Future rest room and rumored meet and greet</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Once at Epcot we immediately went to Soarin' and got FPs (4:50). We then headed over to The Seas to see Turtle Talk with Crush. As we did not want to ride the Nemo we entered through the exit to Nemo to see Crush. This attraction uses similar technology to Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor where an improvisational performer manipulates a puppet that is immediately represented as a 3D animated image on the screen. The success of an individual show is dependent on the skill of the performer and his ability to interact with the audience. The performer for this show was quite good and it was very funny.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We then went over to check out the standby line for Test Track (TT), but at 70 minutes it was too long. Kirk wanted to check out Club Cool so we went there. We tried a few, there is one that has something of a watermelon flavor that I like, but they are all sugar sweetened and too sweet for my taste. Plus Kirk is diabetic so he didn't want to try too many. We headed over to Mexico and rode Grand Fiesta, then to Norway for Maelstrom. We could get another FP by this time so we got them for TT (5:30).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">At this point we split up because Kirk wanted to stay in Futureworld (FW) and I wanted to go to World Showcase (WS). We agreed to meet up at Soarin' for out FP time. So I did a 90 minute tour of WS. I went to the right and worked counter-clockwise. I visited one of my favorite "hidden gems" in Canada - the waterfall on the way to the entrance of "O! Canada!". After that I saw that Off Kilter was playing so I listened to them for a while. In England I had a Guinness and watched the street performers. I walked by France and America and watched more street performers in Italy (doing a show I could not make heads or tails of - it appeared to be some sort of mock wedding). I went to the new </span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Karamelle-Kuche where I bought two milk chocolate covered caramels with sea salt - one for now and one for later. Yeah, right, like <i>that</i> was going to work - I ate them both. Delicious! Finally I visited the tomb warriors display in China. As we had already visited Norway and Mexico I skipped those.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The waterfall in Canada</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">It was time for our Soarin' FPs so I headed back to FW to meet up with Kirk. We agreed to wait a little extra so we could get row 1. TIP: if you don't mind waiting an extra 10 minutes or so, row 1 is the way to go for Soarin'. OK, so Soarin' needs a new film. First, it should be switched over to digital projection. Second, it would be so cool if they had more than one file, For those of you who have experienced Soarin', picture this: The openeing is the same, with the clouds, and the same music. Then you break through the clouds and, for the first time, you know which one of the random films you are going to see. Wouldn't that be cool? </span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">So, after that we decided to have dinner so we went to what is, in my opinion, the best counter service at WDW (with the exception of Be Our Guest now) - Sunshine Seasons. Kirk had a potato soup which he said was quite good. He tried a taste of the spicy cashew chicken but didn't like it. I had tuna with noodles (I think I've gotten this every time I've been to Sunshine Seasons). As always it was very good, but in this case I got one bad piece of tuna. By bad I don't mean spoiled - it was gristly and pretty much inedible. Other than that a good meal.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We then headed over to TT to use our FPs. TT has gone through a complete remodel although the track layout has not changed. The new design is sleeker and more modern. The idea is that you are doing a "virtual" test of your car. In the pre-show area you "design" your car and then your design is pitted against other designs for performance - although this has no impact whatever on your ride experience. For the ride itself the new design is, again, sleeker and more modern. Less industrial feeling. I have to say I preferred the old design. I felt the old ride was more visceral and exciting. This new design feels sterile to me.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">We then headed back to MK for the fireworks. We rode the monorail but in doing so noticed that - even when the monorail is right there ready to board (as this was) - the ferry is as fast if not faster. Once we arrive, as we wanted to have a good spot for viewing Celebrate the Magic!, we went up to the Main Street Railroad Station terrace and hung out there. There were no chairs left outside but plenty of space. We went inside the station to sit, then went back out as it got closer to showtime. Celebrate the Magic! is a show that utilizes lights strung up on the castle that allows images to be "projected" on the castle. It is amazing! The effects I enjoyed the most were those that best utilized the shape of the castle itself - like one where an artists paintbrush touched each tower turning it a different color. Our position for seeing the show was perfect - although I would have preferred being a bit closer.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After the show there is a bit of a break before the fireworks show so we made out way toward Liberty Square. We watched the fireworks - WISHES - from a pathway between Main Street and Liberty Square. Nobody does fireworks like Disney. They were amazing. After that we rode Haunted Mansion. I will say one thing about the recent changes to HM - other than that they are great. To me, the most effective change is also one of the simplest and is low-tech. Right after the M C Escher staircase room you enter a hallway with wallpaper that has "evil eyes" in the design. As you are entering the room the evil eyes appear looking at you in the darkness, then they ultimately blend into the wallpaper. I absolutely love this effect.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After HM we visited the new, slightly truncated, Country Bears Jamboree. I must say that cutting the show did not really hurt it, and I was glad to see that it did not seem to be about making it more "politically correct" - mama is still being urged to shoot Little Beuford. When we left the bears we noticed there was a second showing of Celebrate the Magic! and we agreed that, had we known, we would have watched it again. At this point - after 13 hours in the parks - I was feeling a bit the worse for wear. We had intended to stay until park closing (it was an Extra Hours night) but my old body was not up for it. Kirk wanted to stay so we parted ways. One thing I missed and wanted to see was the New Fantasyland at night. That would have to wait. On the way out I took a short cut through the restrooms that connect Adventureland to Frontierland, and there it was! The Dole Whip stand! I had not had a chance to get a Dole Whip and this was my last opportunity. Needless to say I gave in and had one - still one of my favorite Disney treats. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Here is a tip if you're running the marathons. Wear your medal! I wore mine the rest of the day after the marathon and got lots of "congratulations". More important, it lead to conversations with other runners. On this day I thought it might be a bit much to wear it again - although I did wear the t-shirt I bought. Mistake! A lot of folks still asked me if I ran, but when you wear the medal they <i>know</i> you ran. If I ever do this again I will wear my medal until I leave. I even saw folks wearing them in the airport!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The OKW hot tub was calling my name again, land again I heeded the call. After a bus ride back to the resort I headed straight for that Jacuzzi. It was great. After that it was straight to bed. The next day was our last day at WDW - and as my flight was at 2:50 it would be a short one.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Here are shortcuts to all the entries in this blog:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/intro-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january-2013.html" target="_blank">Intro and Day 1</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-race-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january.html" target="_blank">Day 2 and the Race</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/park-day-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january.html" target="_blank">Day 3 in the Parks</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/final-day-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january.html" target="_blank">Final Day 4</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">H</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ere are some quick links to some of the more popular posts:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-intro.html" target="_blank">Europe trip 2012 including Santorini Greece, Athens and London</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/kirk-john-2012-dc-and-williamsburg-va.html" target="_blank">John & Kirk go to Williamsburg VA and Washington DC</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/trip-to-orlando-august-2010-intro-and.html">Orlando 2010 including Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-intro.html">Adventures with my good friend Kirk including Walt Disney World, Vegas, Disneyland and more</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/walt-disney-world-daddydaughter-jaunt.html">A Daddy/Daughter jaunt to Walt Disney World in 1998</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/southern-california-2002-intro.html">A trip to Southern California including Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/disney-world-middle-school-trip-may_2840.html">Middle School Rock Band trip to Walt Disney World 2010</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/key-west-fl-2002.html">Key West 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/south-east-florida-january-2012.html">South East Florida 2012</a></span><br />
<br />John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-17372199640958058222013-01-27T17:55:00.001-08:002013-09-06T16:09:22.020-07:00Final Day: John & Kirk in WDW for January 2013 Marathon Weekend<b style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Final Day 4</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">For our final morning we did not need to rise <i>quite</i> so early because we had no plans to be at any park for park opening. I was planning to meet some folks from the WISH running team at the Boardwalk and Kirk was going to DHS where we would meet up later. WISH (We're Inspired to Stay Healthy) is a Facebook group and discussion forum on the <a href="http://www.disboards.com/" target="_blank">DIS boards</a>. My initial plan was to take a bus to Epcot or DHS and walk to the Boardwalk but Kirk was leaving about the same time so he gave me a ride.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">It was, as it had been for the entire trip, a beautiful and warm day with clear blue skies. I got to the Boardwalk a bit early, got a cup of coffee and a danish at an outdoor stand (the bakery was being refurbished) and strolled the Boardwalk. I <i>love</i> the Boardwalk. There may be DVC properties that are more luxurious. There may be DVC properties with bigger or better rooms. There may be DVC properties with more amenities. But my home resort is the Boardwalk, and I feel more "at home" there than pretty anywhere else at WDW. The patio facing Crescent Lake is one of my favorite spots in all of WDW.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">It was coming up to 9:00 which was the agreed upon meeting time. I walked up to a couple of people who looked like they were waiting for others, but they were not from the WISH team. I walked up to a couple of other guys and this time I was right. We introduced ourselves - they were Richard and Kipp. We chatted a bit and I met some other folks, notably Shelly, Lilly, Rod, Mike and Kim. We had a terrific time talking about the races, our experiences and our love for everything Disney. What a great group of folks.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">It was about time for me to leave to meet Kirk, but before I left we took a group photo - thanks to Richard for sharing this with me:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0PeJwfkVv_SOVdRl84XwSOykDILzb2AJv9nM3AkApTgu0WKM6KdvWO94wRylp-qt2wklsnvtVjcJ13tjt4RdrqjMo6sBPi8phaDJCL5BJiut-eR5TC37abG3Rcq9DqMbaymGx9KCJBbQ/s1600/boardwalkmeet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0PeJwfkVv_SOVdRl84XwSOykDILzb2AJv9nM3AkApTgu0WKM6KdvWO94wRylp-qt2wklsnvtVjcJ13tjt4RdrqjMo6sBPi8phaDJCL5BJiut-eR5TC37abG3Rcq9DqMbaymGx9KCJBbQ/s1600/boardwalkmeet.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A terrific group of folks at the WISH meet. That's me in the yellow shirt in the back fourth from the left.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After saying my good-byes I headed over to DHS. I walked over - one of my favorite walking paths in WDW. Kirk and I met up near Fairfax Farms at the end of Sunset Blvd. He told me that he had gotten a FP for Star Tours (ST - 11:10), so while he got a bite at Fairfax Farms I headed over to ST and got my own FP (11:30). I then went back to Fairfax farms and bought some fruit.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">After we ate we got a FP for TZToT (12:10) and used our FPs to ride ST. We saw the Darth Vader intro, the first planet was Tatooine, followed by Yoda and Naboo. Kirk is not crazy about flight simulator rides and, as he put it, he would probably never ride ST unless I was there so he wanted to check it out. After ST we both had Mickey Bars, and then we used our FPs for a ride on TZToT. After that it was time for us to leave so I could catch my plane. I was disappointed at having to leave so early - I had made a 6:50 reservation but, for some reason, my flight was changed to 2:50. Perhaps the later flight was cancelled. Well, anyway, it was a fun trip and I felt great about having completed the marathon. I met a lot of terrific people who I hope to stay in touch with. And now I'm looking forward to my <i>next</i> half marathon.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Here are shortcuts to all the entries in this blog:</span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/intro-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january-2013.html" target="_blank">Intro and Day 1</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-race-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january.html" target="_blank">Day 2 and the Race</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/park-day-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january.html" target="_blank">Day 3 in the Parks</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2013/01/final-day-john-kirk-in-wdw-for-january.html" target="_blank">Final Day 4</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">H</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ere are some quick links to some of the more popular posts:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-intro.html" target="_blank">Europe trip 2012 including Santorini Greece, Athens and London</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/kirk-john-2012-dc-and-williamsburg-va.html" target="_blank">John & Kirk go to Williamsburg VA and Washington DC</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/trip-to-orlando-august-2010-intro-and.html">Orlando 2010 including Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-intro.html">Adventures with my good friend Kirk including Walt Disney World, Vegas, Disneyland and more</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/walt-disney-world-daddydaughter-jaunt.html">A Daddy/Daughter jaunt to Walt Disney World in 1998</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/southern-california-2002-intro.html">A trip to Southern California including Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/disney-world-middle-school-trip-may_2840.html">Middle School Rock Band trip to Walt Disney World 2010</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/key-west-fl-2002.html">Key West 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/south-east-florida-january-2012.html">South East Florida 2012</a></span><br />
<br />John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-5058747596064728252013-01-20T19:51:00.002-08:002013-01-20T19:51:55.734-08:00New Orleans, October 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>New Orleans, October 2012</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Nat had been to New Orleans twice on service trips, helping rebuild neighborhoods devistated by Katrina and Andie and I had been to New Orleans many years ago, but Charlotte had never been, so we decided to go on a short four-day family trip in October 2012. Andie's sister Lee joined us for the first two days as well.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Among the highlights:</span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Walking around the French Quarter</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Shopping on Magazine Street</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">A visit to Mardi Gras World</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Unexpectedly running into a Blues Festival</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Visiting an old cemetery</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Visiting the WWII museum</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The <a href="http://www.thethreemuses.com/" target="_blank">Three Muses</a> restaurant (awesome food - highly recommended)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Listening to terrific local singer <a href="http://galholiday.com/fr_home.cfm" target="_blank">Gal Holiday</a></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some pictures from our trip:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Some pictures of the beautiful girls:</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charlotte looking contemplative</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natalie, Charlotte and their Aunt Lee</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Walking Around the French Quarter and Magazine Street:</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a lot of amazing entertainment to be found and great music is everywhere... often in the street or in the cafes:</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A stop at Cafe du Monde is always required...</b></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A trip to one of NOLA's amazing graveyards:</span></b><br />
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<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A trip to Mardi Gras World - well worth it, especially if you're a photographer:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">H</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ere are some quick links to some of the more popular posts:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-intro.html" target="_blank">Europe trip 2012 including Santorini Greece, Athens and London</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/kirk-john-2012-dc-and-williamsburg-va.html" target="_blank">John & Kirk go to Williamsburg VA and Washington DC</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/trip-to-orlando-august-2010-intro-and.html">Orlando 2010 including Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-intro.html">Adventures with my good friend Kirk including Walt Disney World, Vegas, Disneyland and more</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/walt-disney-world-daddydaughter-jaunt.html">A Daddy/Daughter jaunt to Walt Disney World in 1998</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/southern-california-2002-intro.html">A trip to Southern California including Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/disney-world-middle-school-trip-may_2840.html">Middle School Rock Band trip to Walt Disney World 2010</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/key-west-fl-2002.html">Key West 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/south-east-florida-january-2012.html">South East Florida 2012</a></span><br />
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John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-87633489141937223382012-12-29T14:37:00.003-08:002012-12-29T14:38:59.257-08:00Europe, Summer 2012 - intro<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In July of 2012 we went to Europe for a total of 10 days. We visited 4 destinations in 3 countries. The details of each destination found below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The players are me, John (mid-50's), my wife Andie (also mid-50's) and our daughters Natalie (19 - a rising College sophomore) and Charlotte (15 - a rising High School sophomore).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our itinerary:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 day in London</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 week in Santorini, Greece</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 day (2 nights) in Athens</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An extended layover in Madrid, Spain</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much of this trip was paid for by us cashing in frequent travel points:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Flight from New York - London paid for with Frequent Flyer points</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One night hotel in London paid for with hotel points</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Flight from London - Athens/Santorini paid for with cash</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Villa in Santorini paid for with cash</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Light from Santorini - Athens paid for with cash</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two nights in Athens paid for with American Express points</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Flight from Athens - New York (with a Madrid layover) paid for with Frequent Flyer points</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click on the links below for details on each destination including thoughts, reviews and pictures:</span><br />
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<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-intro.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intro</span> </a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-london.html" target="_blank">London</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-santorini.html" target="_blank">Santorini</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-animals-of-santorini.html" target="_blank">Animals of Santorini</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-nats-food-photos.html" target="_blank">Nat's food pics</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-athens.html" target="_blank">Athens</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-bonus-city-madrid.html" target="_blank">Madrid</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am still organizing the blog, but here are some quick links to some of the more popular posts:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/trip-to-orlando-august-2010-intro-and.html">Orlando 2010 including Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-intro.html">Adventures with my good friend Kirk including Walt Disney World, Vegas, Disneyland and more</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/walt-disney-world-daddydaughter-jaunt.html">A Daddy/Daughter jaunt to Walt Disney World in 1998</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/southern-california-2002-intro.html">A trip to Southern California including Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/disney-world-middle-school-trip-may_2840.html">Middle School Rock Band trip to Walt Disney World 2010</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/key-west-fl-2002.html">Key West 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/south-east-florida-january-2012.html">South East Florida 2012</a></span><br />
<br />John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-70574350485925100262012-12-29T14:37:00.001-08:002012-12-29T14:45:07.728-08:00Europe - Summer 2012 - London<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">Part 1 - London</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">Most photos by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/77806865@N05/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nat</a>.</span><br />
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<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8308/7939537404_1970ce9f80_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8308/7939537404_1970ce9f80_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">Our flight was a late flight to begin with, and to make it worse we took off later than scheduled. Our flight finally took off around 11:00 PM. Obviously this was an over-night flight so what sleep we got was on the plane. This first flight was in coach, so needless to say it was not exactly a restful night.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">Our flight arrived at Heathrow at about 10:45. Luckily we had no trouble getting our luggage and we were quickly through customs and in a cab on our way to London. I know this is something of a stereotype, but I find it very disconcerting to drive on the "wrong" side. I also noticed something about the cabs I never noticed before (this was my second time in London) - I always assumed all of the London cabs were manufactured by the same company but they aren't. Back when New York had Checker Cabs they were all manufactured by Checker. Even though all the cabs in London look essentially the same, I noticed there are a couple of manufacturers.</span><br />
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<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8171/7939523014_cece87a35e_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8171/7939523014_cece87a35e_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">This was the first time that the girls had a separate room from us. The rooms themselves were not bad, although the beds were a bit too firm for my taste. And the bathroom was,,, odd. And no, I'm not talking pampered-american-who-isn't-used-to-european-bathrooms odd. I mean <b><i>odd</i></b> odd. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.454545021057129px; line-height: 24px;">Anyway, after a £70 cab ride we arrived at our hotel, </span><a href="http://london.churchill.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels-london-churchill/index.jsp?hyattprop=yes" style="color: #d2b978; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.454545021057129px; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;">The Hyatt Regency Churchill</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.454545021057129px; line-height: 24px;">. We had reserved the room using Andie's Hyatt points. We actually had to get two rooms for the four of us and we noted</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">Like the flush lever on the toilet was behind the lid so that you had to put the lid down to flush. And there was a sprayer in the sink. What the hell is </span><b style="color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>that </i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">for? And the shower was very confusing - made even worse by the fact that you could not move the nozzle, making the act of taking a shower a unique challenge.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8459/7939548192_cd97ef2496_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8459/7939548192_cd97ef2496_b.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These guys were in the hotel. Don't ask...</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">After our long, tiring flight we were in no mood to figure out lunch so we the easy way out and ate in the hotel. Usually a mistake and this time was no exception. The food was not awful but it certainly wasn't great, and as you would expect from hotel food it was grossly overpriced. I had fish 'n chips wish was greasy. The fries were also cold, but they were stacked like a Jenga game! Charlotte insisted on taking one from the bottom of the stack. The tower did not topple. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">Before leaving the hotel we stopped by the concierge to get tickets for the London Eye.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">After lunch we headed out to do some site-seeing. It was a beautiful day with a clear blue sky. A work colleague of mine from out London office had provided me with something of a touring plan that would allow us to see many of the highlights of London. With this plan in hand we headed out of the hotel and grabbed a cab. Keeping with the plan we had the cab take us to Downing Street. On the way we passed Buckingham Palace. This turned out to be a good thing.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">The cab dropped us off at Downing Street where we were able to see... pretty much nothing. But, we did see 10 Downing Street in there somewhere... After that we walked to Horse Guard Parade to visit with the guards. I have to say it bugs me a bit that so many people walk right up to the guards to have pictures taken - I mean they </span><i style="line-height: 24px;">do</i><span style="line-height: 24px;"> have a job to do. Our touring plan called for us to walk through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace, but they were constructing a venue for the Olympics and we could not get through. Later, as we watched the Olympics, we would learn it was the Beach Volleyball venue. Actually, a policeman said we should still be able to walk through the park and we did try but we only got a little way.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">We toyed with walking down Birdcage to Buckingham Palace, but it was crowded, hot and honestly after our long walk we just didn't feel like it. We were also concerned that we would not make it to the London Eye in time for our reservation. So it was a good thing we saw the palace from the cab. Instead we walked down to Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. I have to say that I think that collection of building is one of the most impressive and beautiful I've seen.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">We then walked across the Westminster Bridge to the London Eye. We used our vouchers to get our tickets and were about to be escorted into something they called a "4D Experience" but we said we would skip that and instead got in line to board the Eye. We went outside and could not believe how long the line was. It looked like we would be in line for at least two hours. I asked one of the attendants how long they expected the wait to be and they said "about 15 minutes. Maybe 20" I was very skeptical, but we got in line. And you know what? It took about 20 minutes, much to my surprise. So here is a tip - the line for the London Eye goes <i>very</i> fast.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">After our ride on the eye we </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">toyed</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"> with the idea of taking a ferry to the Tower Bridge, but it was getting close to dinner time so we decided to head off for dinner. Using </span><a href="http://www.happycow.net/" style="color: #d2b978; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: initial;">Happy Cow</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"> Nat located </span><a href="http://www.mildreds.co.uk/food.html" style="color: #d2b978; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: initial;">Mildred's Vegetarian Restaurant</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"> in Soho. This place was excellent! The ambiance was nothing terribly special but the food was amazing. Sorry, I did not make a note of what we had but it was very good. I you are in London and looking for a good vegetarian place to eat you can't go wrong here.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I went back to the hotel and pretty much fell asleep right away. Andie and the girls came back about an hour later but by then i was out cold. They would later tell me that they went to Carnaby Street.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Well, that was the end of our day in London. Next up Santorini!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up, </span><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-santorini.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Santorini</a><br />
<a href="http://www.thompsonfamilyweb.com/" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;" target="_blank">Home</a><br />
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<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-intro.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intro</span> </a><br />
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John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-17012930985490103782012-12-29T14:36:00.001-08:002012-12-29T14:46:03.043-08:00Europe, Summer 2012 - Santorini<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part 2 - Santorini</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next morning was our flight to the Greek island of Santorini. Andie and I had been there for our honeymoon nearly 20 years ago and loved it. When we were planning this trip Andie and I were really not too keen on returning to Santorini - not because we didn't like it (far from it) but because we wanted to go someplace we had never been. The kids, on the other hand, really wanted to visit Santorini so that sealed the deal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andie found what looked to be a lovely villa using <a href="http://www.homeaway.com/">Home Away</a> called the <a href="http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rentals/greece/santorini/r11014">Pink Cave House</a>. We booked a week there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself... let's talk about the flight from London to Santorini.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We rose at 6. Our room was club level so we had breakfast in the club room. We then caught a cab to Heathrow - our driver was not familiar with Aegean airlines and had to call in to figure out what gate to get to, but he figured it out and we arrived no problem. Once we got to the airport, however, we ran into a problem getting our boarding passes. The kiosk would not read all of our passports. We had a bit of back and forth - the ticket desk said we needed to go to the check-in desk and the folks at the check-in desk said we needed to go to the ticket desk. Finally I ended up at the first-class check-in desk (almost by accident) and the guy (Mohammed) there was very helpful and got everything worked out for us. He did give one piece of advice that was very helpful - he told me to not scan our passports again but to instead enter our flight numbers into the kiosk.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our flight to Athens was on time and we had no issues. In Athens we still had issues at the kiosk, but then we took the advice of Mohammed and used the light numbers to get our boarding passes. We also had a quick bite at the airport. The food was... well... nearly edible. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing we were really worried about was whether our luggage would be there. This is always a concern when you have to change planes, but being in a foreign country just amplifies these concerns.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, eventually we boarded our flight to Santorini, and after a 30 minute flight we arrived in Thira. Luckily our luggage was there, so no problem there. I called our rental car company (<a href="http://www.sunbird-santorini.gr/">Sunbird</a>) to let them know we had arrived. I was told to meet our drive, Stavos, in the parking lot. It all seemed a little shady to us, but Stavos was quite nice and the car (a Peugeot) was clean and in good shape. Stavos drove us to the rental car office in the next town. As we were driving I pointed out that the car was almost empty. He said we should just return it almost empty. I should point out that I <i>hate</i> that. Fill the car with gas. Or at least give me the option. This would become an issue later as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I paid for the car (</span>€300 <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for the week) I mentioned the gas level. She said she had it marked as 1/4 full and I said no, in reality it was almost empty. "Don't worry, you'll have plenty get you through until get a chance to get some gas". OK.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Santorini is a small, crescent shaped island. It is the last remaining remnant of what was once a large, powerful volcano. Many thousands of years ago the volcano fell into the ocean - many believe this is where the story of Atlantis came from. All that remains is a partial sliver of the top of the volcano's cone. This is Santorini. The water at the interior of the crescent is known as the Caldera.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oia, which is locared on the northern tip of Santorini, is an interesting and unique town. The town is built into a hillside. You may not know it, but I guarantee you have seen pictures of Oia. With it's white-washed houses and blue domed roofs built into the side of the sheer hill overlooking the deep blue Meditteranean, Oia is arguably one of the most photographed towns in the world. Most of the restaurants and stores occupy the part of the town that is at the top of the hill, with a (comparatively) wide stone lined walkway which connects one side of town to another. the homes and hotels are below the main part of town, connected by a jumbled series of narrow walkways and stairs. Oia is not a town for those with mobility issues.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The "Pink Cave House" is small, funky and cute. Out front is a nice patio with a table and chairs. The kitchen and bathroom are at the front of the house. There is a door into the kitchen on the right, but the main door is on the left and it leads to the living room which is right behind the kitchen. One of the bedrooms is also at the front on the other side of the front door, and there is another at the back of the house. Outside there is also a small (and very treacherous) stairway that leads to a rooftop patio over the kitchen, and then goes on to a small second-floor bathroom. That bedroom was left unused - it was just too hot up there. Instead Nat and Charlotte slept in the front bedroom while Andie and I used the back bedroom. In fact we took the fan out of the upstairs bedroom and used it in the back bedroom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The funkiness of the house continues with the decor. I would call it... 60's european kitsch. With lots of artwork. Funky artwork including several nudes. One in particular peice - a statue of a male nude - along with our constant playing of Greek belalyka music proved to be a bit of an inspiration for the girls. OK - first, get the "Zorba the Greek" theme in your head. "da-DA-da-da-da-dada-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-DA-da-da..." - got it? OK, imagine two teen-age girls going around the house dancing the tsestos singing "sta-TUE-pe-nis-sta-tue-pe-nis-sta-tue-pe-nis-sta-tue-pe-nis-sta-TUE-pe-nis..."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I digress....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After settling in to the house we were hungry so we went out for dinner. We had passed a restaurant call <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g482941-d1802303-Reviews-Lotza-Oia_Santorini_Cyclades.html">Lotza</a> on our way to the house so we decided to go there. Lotza has an entrance on the main road and a patio in the back overlooking the water. We ate our meal - which was declicious - while the waiters watched a soccer game in the break room. Very European Our meal was wonderful. I had chicken suvlaki, Andie had spanikopita, Charlotte had pasta and Nat had hummus. We shared a tomato arugula salad and a bottle of white wine (well, Charlotte didn't have any wine). With tip it came to about €90.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">After dinner we walked around a bit and stopped for baklava at a local bakery. And it was AMAZING!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">After picking up our honey-soaked dessert we headed back to the cave house. The kids went to bed while Andie and I sat outside on the patio. It was a wonderful, comfortable evening. While we were sitting on the porch something happened that would happen several times on the trip - people would walk by the patio obviously lost. In this case it was a french couple who obviously had no idea where they were. We ended up staying up quite late, finally getting to bed about 2:00. When we did go to bed we had to deal with the mosquito net on the bed which was a bit of a pain, but we managed. (Actually, on about the third night I sat on the net and accidentally pulled it down. At least after that we did not have to deal with it anymore.)</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>Monday</b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">The next morning was gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky. In fact, we would not see a cloud - not one single cloud - our entire week in Santorini. I went to the local grocery store in search of coffee and fruit. Pretty slim pickin's there. I did notice that they had trays of some sort of drink in little plastic cups set up in the cooler section. I wondered what they were for. I would learn later that it was a local liquer that the store sold. When cruise ship groups walked by the store they would grab a tray and run out to give away samples in hopes of selling a few bottles. Speaking of which, staying in Santorini for an entire week I noticed something about the impact of the cruise ships on the local economy. Looking at this store in particular - which in addition to groceries sold inexpensive souvenirs - I would guess that they did at least 70% of their business from cruise ships patrons.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Anyway, they had no fruit so I went to a larger store on the other side of town. I did find fruit there, although they only sold the same coffee that I saw at the first market. I wasn't even sure if it was ground coffee or instant.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I got back to the house and looked at a clock for the first time to discover it was... 1:00 PM! Wow! A bit later the housekeeper Miranda showed up with breakfast (at 1:00?). I had actually forgotten that breakfast came with the house. We told her we weren't sure if we needed breakfast every morning (with 2 vegetarians and a vegan it wan unclear how useful it would be anyway). Still, the breakfast of omelet and french baguette was quite good, and the pears I bought at the store were awesome. The coffee was... not awesome.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Andie and I took our coffee outside to the porch. As we sat there we saw a guy with a long grey beard take some food off a table on porch of one of the other houses. We wondered if he was stealing food - he actually looked homeless. We discovered later that no, he was living in the house. He worked on the porch every day on a laptop. Perhaps a writer staying alone in Santorini for inspiration?</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">We walked around Oia for a while and went to lunch. Check out Nat's photos of some of the food we had at different restaurants around Santorini. We also did some shopping - Andie bought some jewelry and a scarf and Nat bought a hat (you can see the hat in some of the pictures later from Athens).</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">We then went back to the room and where I left the ladies while I went on a mission to check out the local beaches. While I was at it I intended to find gas and a place to cash some traveler's checks. Both turned out to be difficult. I drove into Thira - the main town in Santorini. The problem with gas was that no gas stations took credit cards and I had no cash and could not find anywhere to cash the traveler's checks. I got to the point where I was quite worried - the gas was getting low and I was worried I didn't have enough to get back to Oia. I got directions to the National Bank where I should be able to cash the checks but for the life of me I simply could not find it. Finally, after about 6 or 7 passes back and forth by where everyone claimed the bank to be, I found it. I was able to cash the checks (I cashed them all - I was not going to let THAT happen again!) and went out looking for gas. I was really worried that the gas stations would be closed - it was after 4:00 by now - and as it turned out I did get to a station just before they closed. Success! My original intent to check out beaches was forgotten.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I got back to the room and we decided to go out for dinner. We looked around and ended up on the north side of the island where the streets were crowded with people waiting for the sunset. As we had a week in Santorini and plenty of time to enjoy the sunset we continued looking for a place to have supper. We ended up at <a href="http://www.ambrosia-nectar.com/" target="_blank">Nectar and Ambrosia</a> - a little place off the main drag with no view to speak of but a nice ambiance and what we would soon discover was the best food we would find in Santorini (which is why ended up returning several times).</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I'm afraid I won't be able to blog all of what we ate - or the cost - at different restaurants we visited in Santorini but where I can I will. At Nectar and Ambrosia we had, for appetizers, a wonderful and unusual Waldorf salad as well as Tzatziki and Toubuli with pita. Charlotte had spinach ravioli, Andie had mushroom rizotto, Nat had hummus and I had a pumpkin ravioli in cream sauce. Everything was phenomenal. For dessert we had a delicious coconut cake with ice cream. The meal was spectacular although a bit expensive - </span></span></span>€<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">180 after tip (including </span>€<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">30 for the wine).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">After dinner we went back to the house. Andie and I climbed the somewhat treacherous stairs that lead to the rooftop patio above the kitchen. We sat there for quite a while chatting and drinking wine and enjoying the cool night breeze and the wonderful views.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>Tuesday</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">The next morning was, once again, gorgeous without a cloud in the sky. The whitewashed buildings of Oia with their brightly colored (mostly blue) doors and rooftops set against the azure water in the Caldera and the pale blue sky is one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. I think you could live there for years and never get tired of it.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pink house seen center left is where we stayed.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">At 10:00 Miranda brought us a breakfast of tomato, onion and feta omelet and a baguette. It was quite good but (spoiler alert) this was the last time we would see her. Anyway, we decided we wanted to go to the beach so we left at about 10:45 for Parissa Beach. On the way there, while passing through Thira, we decided that Kamari Beach looked easier to get to so we went there instead.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Kamari has a beautiful beach with a course, black sand. There were paths set up to allow you to get closer to the umbrellas and beach chairs while avoiding scalding your feet on the sand which can get very hot in the Greek sun. We entreated by one of the locals to pay a fee for the chairs - </span></span>€<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">5 for each umbrella. I don't know if this was a scam but having the chairs and umbrella was well worth it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">It was very nice swimming in the Mediterranean water, although you really had to commit and could not get in slowly. Also the shelf dropped off quickly once you got out a little way. Still, the water was refreshing and we enjoyed the swim.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">We ate lunch at one of the restaurants that line the boardwalk bordering the beach. It was here that Nat (who is a vegan and, therefore, can have a hard time finding dishes with protien) discovered fava beans. Fava are grown locally and served at pretty much every restaurant in Santorini. And Nat loved them. We also had salad, a Greek sandwich, some wonderful grilled mushrooms and fried onions. Charlotte - who was more in the breakfast/dessert mood, had a waffle with ice cream and chocolate. The food was good and hearty and at about </span>€</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">50 not too expensive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">We left Kamari and drove back to Oia. There are 2 ways of getting from the south side of the island to Oia. One route is shorter and faster but much hillier. The other is longer and takes you through the flatter part of the island. We chose to drive the longer, flatter route which is also quite picturesque in places.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">On the drive back we stopped at a market for fruit, oatmeal and soy milk. Everything was in Greek so finding soy milk proved a challenge but luckily on of the people that worked at the store spoke a little English and was able to steer me in the right direction. Once we got back to Oia we decided to make a reservation at a restaurant called </span><a href="http://www.panoramarestaurantthirasia.com/" style="line-height: 24px;" target="_blank">Panorama </a><span style="line-height: 24px;">(they appear to have locations in most of the Santorini villages). Well, this proved to be one of the only disappointments of the trip. The view was beautiful but we were hoping for a view of the sunset which their location did not provide. Also the food was fair at best. It was pretty typical of what you might expect in Greece - lamb, cheese pie, etc. In fact this would end up being our worst meal in Santorini - not awful just not great.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Again Andie and I finished off the day by spending the evening on the porch. It was a bit cooler but still a lovely evening.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>Wednesday</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I awoke at 5:00 on Wednesday expressly because I wanted to see the sunrise. It turned out that I did not have a good vantage point for watching the sun come up so I went back to bed and we slept until 11:00.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">After a breakfast of oatmeal, toast, juice and coffee we drove to Thira. Thira is the largest town in Santorini and is also where the cruise ships port. Here is a tip for visiting Thira - if you see more that 3 ships in port don't bother. On this day I counted 5 ships and the village was extremely crowded. In fact Charlotte and I wanted to ride the cable car that goes down the extremely steep cliff to the port below, but the center of town was so crowded we could not even get through.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Since we arrived at about lunch time, and as our breakfast was small, we stopped at a restaurant called </span><a href="http://www.sphinx.gr/" style="line-height: 24px;" target="_blank">Sphynx </a><span style="line-height: 24px;">with a lovely outdoor patio for lunch. The view was awesome and the fare was pretty typical - although the moussaka was excellent. A bit pricey at </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">€</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">85.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">We then did some shopping in Thira - the shopping in Thira is very good but you have to know what to looks for. Sorry for the lack of pictures from Thira - we knew we were going shopping and nobody brought a camera.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">We drove back to Oia, relaxed for a bit before going out for dinner - apologies again I don't recall where we had dinner that night.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">After dinner Andie and I sat on the porch while Nat and Charlotte went for a walk. From the porch of our house we could look up at the walkways and we would hear voices drifting down from above, then we would see the elongated shadows of the owners of those voices, and finally we would see the people themselves. Our first indication that Nat and Charlotte were returning was the sound of their laughter drifting down over the stone walkways. They then told us all about their night walking around Oia, and the boys who tried to strike up a conversation by inviting them for w swim at their hotel. Yeah... that's not happening...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Thursday</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">After a leisurely morning and lunch at Lotza we ventured out to meet a private boat - captained by <a href="http://www.sailinginsantorini.com/yacht-charter-captain-lambros.html" target="_blank">Captain Lampros</a> - that we had hired for the afternoon. We went to Amoudi Bay - which is on the water at the bottom of the cliff from the main part of Oia - to meet up with our boat. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Once we boarded and headed out, one of the first things we saw is a small outcropping of rocks where Andie and I went swimming several times when we came to Santorini for our honeymoon. We remarked to Captain Lampros that we went swimming here on our honeymoon and he said we could stop there on our way back since you could no longer get there by walking and you needed a boat to get there.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Our first stop was a small cove where there is a small shrine that is a tribute to some children that had been killed there in a storm. Despite the somewhat gruesome origins of the church it is now a terrific spot for swimming.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Our next stop was a hot springs in the volcano. As we approached I thought that the water was becoming shallow because of the change in color - but it was actually the sulfur in the water. We could also smell the sulfur. Captain Lampros could only go so far in, so we had to swim in the rest of the way. The further in we swam the warmer the water got. And the sulfur in the water felt very good against our skim. This was amaazing. Swimming in a volcano - how cool is that?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Next up Captain Lampros took us to a quaint fishing village - another beautiful swimming spot.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Finally we headed back to where we started and the small outcropping where Andie and I had gone swimming when we were here on our honeymoon. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">A short swim from the outcropping is a tiny rock island that boasts a concrete platform that, we had heard, was built during WWII. It was meant to be the foundation of an observation post we had heard, but it was never finished and the war ended. There is also a steep set of stairs leading to a second platform up, I would say, perhaps 20 feet from the water.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"> While we were swimming we saw someone jump from this second platform into the water below. Nat, Charlotte and I decided this was something we had to try!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">When we got up to the platform there were two young ladies - perhaps late teens or early twenties - trying to work up the courage to take the plunge. There was also a young man there - obviously a local - who showed us all up by jumping off with absolute impunity. Once we got up there we could understand their hesitation. Let me tell you. looking up from below is much different than looking down from above! All you could see were the jagged rocks looking very threatening. When someone did jump off you could easily see that it was quite safe - but that didn't make it any easier.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">Well, those two scared young ladies finally did it, and then I knew I had to as well. I did and it was awesome! Nat and Charlotte soon followed. Charlotte and I even did a second try. It was great.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">One thing I have to say about this little outcropping. As I mentioned earlier, Captain Lampros said that you could not walk there anymore. He told us the trail was closed and the only way to get there was by boat. This seemed odd to me because there was quite a few people there and the only boat I saw was ours. More on that later...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">That ended our day on the boat. I have to confess I don't recall the cost (I want to say about </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">€</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">200), but I will say that if you visit Santorini it is well worth it. It's a great way to see the island, including spots that are otherwise very difficult to get to.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">For dinner we went to Pelican. OK food, mediocre service but an amazing view of the sunset. In fact, once the sun set it got a round of applause.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>Friday</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">After another leisurely morning we decided to head to Amoudi Bay and see if we could get to that small rock outcropping. Well, Captain Lampros was wrong - we were indeed able to take the path to the outcropping. He was right however in that the path was closed. At least that's what we assumed from the metal gate with a "No Entry" sign on it that everyone was ignoring and walking past to get to the path. As we walked it was very clear why the path was condemned - with sinkholes big enough to swallow a VW. But still... not all that bad. Still passable. But then we got to the last bit, about a 40 foot span where the path had completely collapsed leaving only an 18-inch wide retaining wall. This 18-inch wide precipice dropped about 10 or 15 feet to the jagged rocks below.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Now, I am not the most sure-footed person in the world. I was not happy with this. All the while I was crossing this span I had visions of my wife and children weeping over the sight of my contorted and twisted body splayed across the rocks below. But maybe I'm being dramatic. Anyway - we all made it across without incident and had a nice relaxing afternoon of swimming and sun bathing. Well, for me it was as relaxing as it could be given I was obsessing on the return trip over that wall of certain death.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">After barely surviving the return trip we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in Amoudi Bay. We had lunch at one of several outdoor establishments that grill fish and vegitables on open grills. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Saturday</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sorry but I have no pictures from Saturday. After a leisurely morning we drove to Perissa Beach. Perissa is very similar to Kamari and honestly I could not necessarily recommend one over the other except that there were several somewhat annoying people hawking messages and trinkets at Perissa. We ate lunch at a restaurant called <a href="http://poseidonsantorini.com/index%20en.html" target="_blank">Poseidon</a>. The food was good and at about </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">€40 one of the better deals of the trip.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After our day at the beach we returned, got cleaned up and went out for another wonderful meal at Nectar and Ambrosia. Among other things I had an awesome chicken souvlaki and Nat had a delicious pomegranate campaign cocktail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We walked around the village one last time after dinner. I had gotten a minor sunburn so I picked up some locally made olive aloe lotion at a vendor that was one of the most soothing lotions I have ever tried.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sunday </b>- our last day in Santorini</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Sunday we woke early to pack, went shopping in Oia and drove to Amoudi for lunch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went to the airport to see if by chance there was an earlier flight. There was not so we drove to Thira and walked around a bit more before heading to the airport. We parked the car and - in accordance with the instructions of the car rental company - we parked in a public lot and locked the keys in the trunk. That seemed a bit odd but whatever.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We waited for our flight at a rooftop lounge where we had soggy, expensive sandwiches (a candy bar was </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">€2.50) and were surrounded by smokers. Our flight was on time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some random thoughts:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I grew to love what I thought of as the sounds of Santorini. Laughter and conversations - in many languages - that drift up the stone walkways on the cool breezes. The sound of music playing in the distance. Dogs barking or cats mewing in the distance. The far off sound of a cruise ship horn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are thinking of visiting Santorini, here are some things to consider:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oia and especially Thira get crowded when ships are in port. The service is - how shall I say it - relaxed. There are a lot of smokers (this is Europe after all). Getting around Oia not only requires navigating many stairs, but even the "flat" walkways are uneven and change often.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally - some more random pictures. be sure to visit the pages with animals of Santorini and Nat's food pics.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up - Athens!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-animals-of-santorini.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Animals of Santorini</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-nats-food-photos.html" target="_blank">Nat's food pics</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up, <a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-athens.html" target="_blank">Athens</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-intro.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intro</span> </a><br />
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</span>John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-68379489755327666672012-12-29T14:35:00.001-08:002012-12-29T14:46:49.233-08:00Europe, Summer 2012 - Animals of Santorini<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Animals of Santorini</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many cats and dogs run free around the village of Oia. I'm not sure about the cats, but the dogs mostly seemed to be collared so I assume they have owners. Nat, being an animal lover, snapped several pictures of the animals:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-nats-food-photos.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Nat's food pics</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up, <a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-athens.html" target="_blank">Athens</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-intro.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intro</span> </a><br />
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John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-12900937407859039052012-12-29T14:34:00.002-08:002012-12-29T14:47:19.195-08:00Europe, Summer 2012 - Nat's food photos<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nat's food photos</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The food we had in Santorini was quite photogenic, to wit:</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8304/7939364976_7b73423b8d_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8304/7939364976_7b73423b8d_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bruschetta - Athens, Greece</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8031/7939394740_8806f724b5_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8031/7939394740_8806f724b5_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Butter beans in tomato sauce - Perissa, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oia, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8441/7939399674_4b7fa3d65f_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8441/7939399674_4b7fa3d65f_b.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calamari - Sunset Restaurant, Ammoudi Bay, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crepes - Perissa, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vegan flan - Vegetarian restaurant, Madrid, Spain</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8309/7939310738_365e4963d2_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8309/7939310738_365e4963d2_b.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eggplant Dish - Vegetarian restaurant, Madrid, Spain</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Balsamic roasted vegetables - Sunset restaurant, Ammoudi Bay, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8306/7939476094_ef510f85a0_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8306/7939476094_ef510f85a0_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fava beans with local capers, olive oil, tomatoes - Nectar restaurant, Oia, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8175/7939374852_bfbd8485e6_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8175/7939374852_bfbd8485e6_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greek Salad - Oia, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8438/7939288358_f3266be7a8_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8438/7939288358_f3266be7a8_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tofu and vegetables - Vegetarian restaurant, Madrid, Spain</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8177/7939386580_3881857dd8_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8177/7939386580_3881857dd8_b.jpg" width="580" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greek yogurt with honey and nuts - Perissa, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8435/7939448136_75cba8fbc5_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="440" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8435/7939448136_75cba8fbc5_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lemon hummus - Lotsa restaurant, Oia, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8457/7939455176_b3a1449a79_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8457/7939455176_b3a1449a79_b.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mythos beer - Oia, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8309/7939446226_718c10bfeb_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8309/7939446226_718c10bfeb_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greek salad - Oia, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8040/7939184642_3f4e9b5bce_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8040/7939184642_3f4e9b5bce_b.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Local Yellow Donkey Beer - Pelican Restaurant, Oia, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8178/7939385936_f7bfd59c93_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8178/7939385936_f7bfd59c93_b.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greek yogurt with honey and nuts - Perissa, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8300/7939454536_bd9cb4dd2a_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8300/7939454536_bd9cb4dd2a_b.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fava, pepper and tzatziki dips - Oia, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8445/7939348308_81f1972c9e_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8445/7939348308_81f1972c9e_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Local olives and olive oil - Magna Grazia hotel, Athens, Greece</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8182/7939472826_84b3af0d90_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8182/7939472826_84b3af0d90_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moussaka - Thira, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8303/7939450974_5e7034c6ec_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8303/7939450974_5e7034c6ec_b.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morning coffee - Oia, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8169/7939475208_f536cf95f4_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8169/7939475208_f536cf95f4_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spanakopita - Thira, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stuffed peppers - Perissa, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Local Yellow Donkey Beer - Pelican Restaurant, Oia, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cous cous tabbouleh - Nectar restaurant, Oia, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Local tomatoes - Oia, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watermelon - Perissa, Santorini</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pomegranate champagne - Nectar restaurant, Oia, Santorini</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up, </span><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-athens.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Athens</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-bonus-city-madrid.html" target="_blank">Madrid</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-intro.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intro</span> </a><br />
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John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-87391749561916388382012-12-29T14:34:00.000-08:002012-12-29T14:47:55.845-08:00Europe, Summer 2012 - Athens<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part 3 - Athens</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our flight arrived in Atens after dark. We were a bit concerned about going to Athens with all their recent issues, bu Charlotte - who is very interested in ancient mythology - was dying to see the city and The Acropolis in particular. After landing we caught a cab and drove to Athens. First I was struck by how well maintained the public highways were. When we got to the city, however, it was a different story. There was a lot of evidence of recent unrest and many shuttered businesses.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We arrived at our hotel, the <a href="http://magnagreciahotel.com/" target="_blank">Magna Grecia</a>, and checked in. This is a very old hotel and the room was very quirky with the frayed look of a place with old-world elegance gone somewhat to seed. The room was nice enough, though with an odd layout. It was ostensibly a suite but the second bedroom was more like a large closet with a bed. And the bathroom was particularly odd with fixtures that Had a purpose that was, to me at any rate, something of a mystery. And I'm fairly well traveled.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hotel also boasted a lovely roof top restaurant with a spectacular view of the Parthenon and the Acropolis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately Charlotte had caught some bug somewhere along the way and was not feeling well at all. In fact she didn't even want to leave the room on that first night to see the Acropolis. This was really a shame considering this was something she was really looking forward too. It was late at any rate so we turned in and hoped she would feel better the next day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next day she felt no better. We took turns going out and walking around the local shopping areas while Charlotte rested. By the light of day the city looked much better, and the streets were bustling with locals as well as tourists.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A bit later in the day we decided the one thing we must do was a trip to the Acropolis. Charlotte was not going to let a little illness interfere with that! She put on the "Greek Goddess" dress she had purchased and off we went. We took a cab to the Acropolis where we purchased our tickets to see the Parthenon and the other relics. I was impressed when the ticket taker noticed we had overpaid for our tickets (Charlotte was considered a child) and took us back for a refund.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was an extremely hot day for the climb to the Parthenon, but the sky was cloudless and the views spectacular.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tour of the Acropolis pretty much wiped us all out and we had an early flight and a long travel day ahead of us, so we headed back to the hotel for the rest of the day venturing out only for dinner at a local restaurant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did manage to go to the rooftop restaurant for a nightcap overlooking the awesome night time view of the acropolis. As I was the only person there I chatted with the chef (who was extremely well traveled - he had even at one point leved across the street from a High School I attended for a semester), the waitress (who was from Rumania) and the hostess. They were all lovely people - as were all the people we met in Greece - and I had a very nice time chatting with them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up, </span><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-bonus-city-madrid.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Madrid</a><br />
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<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-intro.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intro</span> </a><br />
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John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-64677962884032277812012-12-29T14:32:00.000-08:002012-12-29T14:42:38.854-08:00Europe, Summer 2012 - Bonus city - Madrid<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part 4 - Madrid</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bad news - our flight was scheduled to leave at 7:00 and we were not sure how long it would take to get to the airport nor how long it would take to get to the airport or to check in, so we arranged to have a cab pick us up at 3:30. We were a bit worried whether the cab driver would be on time, but he was and we were in the airport in 30 minutes (€60 cab ride). Good news, for the return flight we were booked in Iberia business class so we were able to make use of the Olympic Airlines business class lounge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bad news, once we boarded I realized I had left my iPad at the gate in a charging station. Good news, the gate attendant was kind enough to run back and get it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good news, the flight was on time. Bad news, this was by far the worst business class I have ever seen. I don't think the food was different - either way it was not very good - and the seats may have had an extra few inches of leg room but that's it. All they did to make it "business class" was to leave the center of the 3 seats empty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thankfully it was a short and uneventful flight to Madrid where we had a scheduled layover. Bad news, the layover was for 8 hours. Good news, as they checked out luggage through the next flight we could spend the day visiting Madrid and take in one more city. We were afraid they would make us get our bags between flights which would have ruined this plan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once we arrived at Madrid we went through customs and took the train to the Sol station in the center of Madrid. It cost </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">€5 each (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">€20 total) and took about an hour. (On the return trip at the end of the day we took a cap which took 20 minutes and cost </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">€30. My advice - take a cab).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our first order of business was to find a vegan/vegetarian friendly restaurant for lunch. No mean feet in a city that none of us knew where the language was one none of us speak. But we found one - although they were just opening and we had to wait a bit to be served.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We just tooled around Madrid for a couple of hours taking in the sights. Madrid is a lovely city with lots of old time charm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Well, that was the end of our trip. For the last leg of our flight we flew in "real" business class - even with the fold-flat seats. As we were leaving Madrid Andie looked out the window of the plan and commented on the clouds. They were - and I am not exasperating - the first clouds we had seen on the entire trip. This was a fantastic trip and I hope you enjoyed reading about it.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/12/europe-summer-2012-intro.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intro</span> </a><br />
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John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-14183959461158099292012-08-10T19:27:00.002-07:002012-08-29T10:05:22.249-07:00Some thoughts on "Avatar Land" at Walt Disney World<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK, this is a bit of a digression for me, and admittedly I still have a couple of blog posts that I really should be doing instead of this, but hey! I'm feeling inspired.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you may or may not know, Disney has announced that they are going to develop an <a href="http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/09/avatar-coming-to-disney-parks/?CMP=AFC-DPFY10Q3DisneyInsider1338G">Avatar </a>themed "land" at their Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World Florida. Among Walt Disney World enthusiasts this has become a subject of much debate. Disney has still not released details, and indeed there has been much speculation that it will be an attraction as opposed to a real "land". Much of the speculation has been less than positive. In particular, <a href="http://themed%20%22land%22%20at%20their%20animal%20kingdom%20in/">Mike Scopa</a> of <a href="http://allears.net/">Allears.net</a> and<a href="http://www.wdwtoday.com/"> WDW Today</a> has expressed some concern about the project. What I would like to do here is to take many of Mike's concerns and explain why I, for one, am optimistic. For the record, I am not saying that AVATAR is the best idea Disney ever came up with - in fact I think there are many other things they could have done that I would have preferred. But I do think that there is a better than average chance that AVATAR will be awesome.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will list some of Mike's concerns here that I have heard and will address each.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>AVATAR does not have a fan base.</b> It is true that AVATAR lacks the fan base of, say Harry Potter or Star Wars. To that I say two things. First, AVATAR is, as of yet, only one movie. How big was the "Star Wars" fan base after only one movie? Honestly, even though I was around back then I don't recall. But I can say that the obsession with SW did not start until later. Same for Harry Potter - HP did not get really huge until after the 3rd book (and even more so after the first movie). James Cameron is making the second movie now and I see no reason to doubt that it will be a hit. So, Disney may very well have made the smartest play in the world by getting in on the ground floor.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And even if AVATAR does not do very well in the sequels and build a fan base - so what? Bottom line, if the AVATAR land (or attraction or whatever) is an amazing attraction, will anyone really care about the movies and how well they did and whether they developed a fan base? I doubt it (and see my final point).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Good Disney themed areas are all about story and AVATAR has a week story.</b> OK, two points here. First, how important is story really to a good themed attraction? The best themed attractions tell a story, but that story is, in reality, a simple story and not necessarily a "good" story. Let's be honest - is the story of "Haunted Mansion" a "good story" using the same criteria? Or Pirates of the Caribbean? Expedition Everest? Seriously - "the band really wants to help their fans by giving you back stage passes and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">you need a really fast car to get there"... that is a <i>great</i> story? <i><b>Really?</b></i> And are you going to deny that Rockin' Roller Coaster is a great ride?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So why are all these attractions so great if the stories are not that great? Simple. It's the <i><b>atmosphere </b></i>that the stories engender. A dusty old attic with ghosts popping out of every corner. A Spanish town being pillaged by singing pirates. The Himalayan mountains - home of the legendary Yeti. These all have the potential for <i><b>great </b></i>atmosphere. And I don't think that anyone can deny that Pandora has the potential for some great atmosphere.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Second - </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">The story of AVATAR is NOT a lousy story!!!</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Derivative? Of course. Unoriginal? Absolutely. But just because the story is unoriginal does NOT make it "bad". In fact, if anything, quite the opposite. Pocahontas, "Dances with Wolves", "Last of the Mahicans" - all of these share a basic story with AVATAR. This is a really good, compelling story. It's just not original. "Star-crossed lovers try to find love despite the violence and hatred around them". This is a lousy story? Well, <i>jeez</i>, it's been told <i>like a million times</i>! But I think <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxfordian_theory_of_Shakespeare_authorship">Edward de Vere</a>.. sorry, <i><b>Shakespeare </b></i>might take exception to it being called lousy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>James Cameron has no theme park experience.</b> First this is simply not true as there have been several Terminator attractions. Second, the same could be said for Steven Spielberg and JK Rowling. But I think they've done OK.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>AVATAR is not a Disney property and they should have done that first.</b> Firsts, I think this argument has some validity. I too would have preferred Disney develop their own properties - if I had my way they would have developed <a href="http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/wre.htm">Thunder Mesa</a>. But that does not alter the fact that I think that AVATAR will be awesome. Interestingly, the two properties I hear brought up most in the "I wish they would have" category are "The Muppets" and "Star Wars". ahem... not originally Disney properties...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Disney's </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>history with Science Fiction in their theme parks is not good. </b>Mission: Space. Alien Encounter. OK, I get it. Disney has issues with Science Fiction. But, uh... AVATAR is a fantasy, not science fiction. Unless "floating mountains" and a giant tree that can bring someone back to life has some base in science I'm going to stick with that analysis. And I think Disney has done OK with Fantasy. At a minimum AVATAR is no more science fiction than Star Wars is - and I think they've done pretty much OK with that. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>AVATAR is nothing but a knee-jerk reaction to Harry Potter.</b> Maybe, but consider this - Disney was in talks with JK Rowling about Harry Potter and Universal won. Universal was, rumor has it, in talks with Cameron about AVATAR and Disney won. And you know what? I think in both cases they were a better fit. Why do I say that? Simple. Rowling insisted on exerting a degree of creative control that would never have worked for Disney, yet was fine for Universal. And I think that Cameron will be much better at working, creatively, within the constraints of what Disney wants. Honestly I think it was win-win.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Finally, don't under-estimate Disney Imagineering and James Cameron.</b> Disney has a big ace-in-the-hole with Imagineering. Don't believe me? Take a stroll through Carsland at Disney California Adventure. Check out the new Fantasyland. And think about the creative genius of James Cameron. This is the man responsible for the two most successful movies of all time. How, as a Disney park fan, can you not be excited by the prospect of what these two creative titans can accomplish?</span>John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-24141164800700005992012-06-22T05:59:00.001-07:002012-07-15T09:51:43.314-07:00London and Greece<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will be leaving soon on a trip to Santorini Greece with stops in London and Athens. I will report back with thoughts on restaurants and attractions, and will be posting lots of pictures. And these will be much better pictures because 1) we will be in some of the most photogenic places on the plant and 2) the pictures will have been taken by by wife and two daughters who are MUCH better photographers than I am! So, check back a bit later, or better yet, follow!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am still organizing the blog, but here are some quick links to some of the more popular posts:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/trip-to-orlando-august-2010-intro-and.html">Orlando 2010 including Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-intro.html">Adventures with my good friend Kirk including Walt Disney World, Vegas, Disneyland and more</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/walt-disney-world-daddydaughter-jaunt.html">A Daddy/Daughter jaunt to Walt Disney World in 1998</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/southern-california-2002-intro.html">A trip to Southern California including Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/disney-world-middle-school-trip-may_2840.html">Middle School Rock Band trip to Walt Disney World 2010</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/key-west-fl-2002.html">Key West 2002</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/south-east-florida-january-2012.html">South East Florida 2012</a></span>John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1922974462857111520.post-46067614873528958632012-06-21T20:51:00.000-07:002012-06-21T20:51:09.274-07:00Kirk & John 2012 - DC and Williamsburg VA<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>May 3 - 7, 2012</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Kirk and I have been talking about going to Washington DC and Busch Gardens in Williamsburg for years. Finally this year we got around to doing it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The adventure started on Thursday may 3. After a full day of work I drove down to meet Kirk in Philadelphia. Kirk had lived in Philly for a while many years ago and went down a few days earlier to visit his old stomping grounds. unfortunately for him the weather was lousey. Still, I made decent time getting down there - not great but it could have been worse - arriving about 9:30. I met Kirk in the downtown Philly Radison hotel. I was hungry so we went to a nearby Planet Hollywood for a bite. We then walked around Philly for a bit before turning in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>May 4 - DC part 1 and the Nationals</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We left Philly early and drove to DC. We first went to our hotel - the Best Western Pentagon. The hotel was a bit further from the National Mall then I expected, but still not too bad. We were told by the hotel staff that the best bet was to drive to the Pentagon shopping mall about 2 miles away and take the subway to the Smithsonian stop. When we got to the mall we were both very hungry (it was about 2:00), and we both had recalled that there are not a lot of dining choices in the National Mall so we decided to grab a bite at the food court. After eating we took the subway to the Smithsonian exit (about a 15 minute ride) and arrived about 3:00.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Once we arrived at the Mall we immediately headed to a directory to get the lay of the land. In terms of visiting the monuments our main goal was to visit the Jefferson Memorial as this is one that neither of us had visited in previous trips. If you know the layout of the area you'll understand why - the Lincoln memorial, the Washington Monument and many other memorials and monuments are scattered around the giant reflecting pond, while the Jefferson Memorial is located across a large tidal basin - quite a walk from the other monuments/memorials. Upon looking at the directory we realized that there are several new memorials and monuments located on this same tidal basin, so we decided to head off toward the Jefferson Memorial.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">First stop on our tour: The Jefferson Memorial:</span><br />
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<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I read the various Jefferson quotes I was hit with a thought: in today's political world, these quotes would have gotten Jefferson (who was the original proponent of a small federal government) labeled as a left-wing radical. Amazing how times change...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We then went on to the FDR Memorial. This was absolutely amazing. One thing we noticed as we went through it was that it is built in a sort of chronological order and that we were going through it backward. Oh well. Still, it is an impressive memorial and a powerful tribute to a man - and his wife - who were among the greatest figures of the 20th Century.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have to admit to being particularly drawn to the statue of Falla, FDR's dog. I used to have a Scottie name of Merry. He was the greatest dog who ever lived...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Next we came to the Martin Luther King Memorial. Absolutely breathtaking with it's powerful imagery of overcoming adversity through sheer will...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Korean War Veteran's Memorial, whith it's haunting images of war...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Viet Nam War Veteran's memorial, a stunning portrait of a country wounded by the specter of a divisive war that still holds an amazing power over visitors...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">And finally the World War II Veteran's memorial, a tribute to the will of the American People.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_28yQVSGsCFfHoqXUJccGjHy6H8cvSxSwcnbPsRis4Nps2W9yFRaGdDEfgAAc8VBiMoSFrNWyYn0lMSSyxhIqVK6B2892dcfABhGUGV0RZ2dDZCdtQV5eBqy_yn5Mvp3geWvbIJW0asw/s1600/IMG_0830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" pca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_28yQVSGsCFfHoqXUJccGjHy6H8cvSxSwcnbPsRis4Nps2W9yFRaGdDEfgAAc8VBiMoSFrNWyYn0lMSSyxhIqVK6B2892dcfABhGUGV0RZ2dDZCdtQV5eBqy_yn5Mvp3geWvbIJW0asw/s320/IMG_0830.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSRubmnV0fu4njTL5kkLfUN-5KULVcLKdpkxldKNun63YkS3NvNU0gSnuB7X0SH14NphESjjzrY8_aFFOhiK5R_duDObsrMUytNEFW1HakHhcmMF4MSEHiqthL-p8qocTz-1Mygp5X29A/s1600/IMG_0828.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" pca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSRubmnV0fu4njTL5kkLfUN-5KULVcLKdpkxldKNun63YkS3NvNU0gSnuB7X0SH14NphESjjzrY8_aFFOhiK5R_duDObsrMUytNEFW1HakHhcmMF4MSEHiqthL-p8qocTz-1Mygp5X29A/s320/IMG_0828.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, of course the Lincolm Memorial and the Washington Monument.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later that evening we went to a game at Nationals Stadium. We had gone to a <a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/kirk-catch-up.html" target="_blank">Dodgers game when we went to California in 2009</a> and neither of us had been to the new stadium. As an added bonus they were playing the Phillies, a team that Kirk followed when he lived in Philly. I've heard a lot of negative things about this new stadium, but Kiek and I agreed it was quite beautiful. Of course it was an absolutely perfect night for a game so that didn't hurt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One minor dissapointment for me was that I wanted to find a t-shirt for my oldest daughter Natalie that said "Nats" (her nick-name is Nat) but no such thing was to be found.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ended up leaving the game when it was tied in the 10th inning as we were both hungry. After getting back to where we parked we drove around looking for someplace to eat but most of the restaurants were closed except fast food places. We used the GPS to locate restaurants but with no luck. We were about to give up and go to Arbies when we happened across a place called <a href="http://www.lostiosgrill.com/" target="_blank">Los Tios Grill</a> in Alexandria. Man did we luck out! The place was fantastic. The food is Salvadoran and absolutely delicoius. I had a taco and chile relleno, and it was served with an excellent green chile hot sauce. If you are ever in this area be sure to check this place out!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>May 5 - DC Part 2 - Smithsonian</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Sunday we went to a couple of the Smithsonian Museums. We had wanted to go to the Museum of Science and Industry but unfortunately it was closed for refurbishment. We had also both thought that the Space Shuttle would be there - but it was at another location (I don't know what we were thinking to have thought that the Shuttle would have been there!) Still, we did go to the Air & Space Museum and the Natural History Museum.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Here are som pics from Air & Space:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here are some from the Natural History Museum:</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One can only hope...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After we were done with the museums we drove to Richmond, VA. I have prfeviously written about how much I like the show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" on the Food Network and how, when I get a chance, I go to one of the restaurants featured on the show. There are 2 such resturants in Richmond and we went to one of them - <a href="http://www.lacaraquena.com/" target="_blank">La Caraquena </a>- Saturday night. La Caraquena serves Latin American food - and it didn't register with either Kirk or me that it was Cinco de Mayo! We sat outside, and in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, the owner started passing around tequila shots. I suspected he had already had a few himself and his mother - who also helps run the business - seemed none too pleased. Kirk doesn't drink and I had a long drive the next moring so we passed on the taquila. The food was quite good - very unusual. Honestly we agreed that Los Tios Grill was better, but we still enjoyed La Caraquena.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We stayed that night at the Best Western Plus Richmond Airport hotel - which was OK.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><strong>May 6 Busch gardens Williamsburg VA</strong></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the Spring of 2010 <a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/kirk-catch-up.html">Kirk and I went to Busch Gardens Tampa</a>. For this trip we went to <a href="http://buschgardens.com/bg/">Busch Gardens Williamsburg</a>. Our hotel was about an hour from Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW) so we rose early, had breakfast and hit the road. The idea was to be there 30 minutes before opening. As an experienced theme park goer, I can tell you that there is no better strategy to avoid long lines at the most popular attractions than to arrive early. I have found this to be true of all theme parks - whether Disney, Busch or Six Flags. Anyway, we arrived about 9:30, parked, and exchanged our vouchers for tickets. The gates opened anout 9:45 and we headed in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The park is advertised as "The Worlds Most Beautiful Theme Park". Oooookaaaayyy... Um... I don't think so. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty little park that uses the natural beauty of it's surroundings quite well. That said, this park is in a completely different league from any of the Disney parks as well as Universal's Islands of Adventure. I mean, I would not even attempt to make the comparison - it's really not a fair comparison to make. But when you bill yourself as "The Worlds Most Beautiful Theme Park", well you bettr be able to back that up. And BGW clearly can't. Still, I won't hold it against them - it still is a very nice park.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The first this on our agenda was Griffin. Like SheiKra in Busch Gardens Tampa (BGT), Griffin is a "dive coaster" - meaning it sends you down what is pretty much a vericle drop. We made our way through the park but were stopped at the entrance to Ireland and could not get to Griffin. We were right nex to Loch Ness, which was running. We hesitated because we were both hoping that our first coaster of the day would be Griffin, but it made no sense to wait so we rode Loch Ness which was a walk-on. Loch Ness is a fairly long Arrow coaster with several inversions. It's a very good ride which we both enjoyed. Once we finished Loch ness we could see that people were riding Griffin so we headed over there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">With a dive coaster like Griffin, the first row is definitely the place to be. At the top of the first big dive you are suspended momentarily before the big drop and the effect is most ipactful when you are in the front. for this reason there is usually a wiat for the front. For us the wait was 10 minutes while the other rows were walk-on. It was well worth the 10 minute wait. I don't know if it was my imagination - but that first drop didn't just seem to be totally vertical - it actually appeared to duck in a bit. Kirk agreed that he had the same sense. I don't know if it's true or not, but the overall effect is amazing. And to add an extra thrill, Griffin actually has 2 dives - though the second is somewhat smaller. Add a couple of inversions to the mix - as well as an amazingly smooth ride - and I would rate Griffin as a "don't miss" for any serious coaster fan. In fact we rode twice - the second time was a walk-on, sitting in the third row. And I will say this - it's a great ride from any row but the first row is the place to be!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We next headed over to Germany to ride Alpengiest. Big mistake. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alpengiest is a suspended coaster. I have ridden on many suspended coasters - but this thing messed me up big time. Kirk as well. In my it messed up my stomach - in Kirk's case it messed up his equilibrium. At any rate,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> after </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alpengiest we decided to forgo any more coasters for a while. </span><span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead we boarded the sky buckets in Germany. When we were kids we loved to ride the sky buckets at Disneyland and take any chance we have to ride them in any park that still has them - especially sine they have been removed from most parks.</span><br />
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<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love riding sky buckets because it gives you a unique view of the park. In the case of BGV you get sojme really cool view of the coasters.The sky buckets in BGW have 3 stations and they don't let you stay on if there is a line. We had to get off in England and there was a 10 minute wait - which made sense as England is close to the park entrance. We had to disembark again in France but getting back on was a walk-on. This brought us back to Germany where we started.Once in Germany we decided to check out BGW's newest coaster - Verbolten. Verbolten hasn't opened yet but we were hoping they'd be doing a soft opening. No such luck. They were doing ride testing, but no guests were allowed to ride. Bummer. </span><br />
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<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We chilled out in Italy for a while then boarded the train at the Fiesta station in Italy and took it to the Caribou station in New France. It was 1:45 so we decided to head to Trappers Smokehouse for lunch. We both had BBQ chicken combos which were very good. </span><br />
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<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After lunch we caught the train again at the Caribou station and took it to the Tweed station in Ireland. We checked out a couple of the water-themed rides - Escape from Pompeii and Roman Rapids - but in both cases it looked like riders were getting quite wet and we just were not into walking around soaked - so we skipped them both. There was one more coaster to check out however - </span><span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apollo's Chariot. One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that we opted to get QuikQueue passes - an option that costs extra and gets you to the front of the line on some of the most popular attractions. It was probably a waste of money for us, but we had them so we used them on Apollo's Chariot.</span><br />
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<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apollo's Chariot is a solid coaster which is all about hills, it has no loops - but I have to admit what I remember most was something of a - mishap. At the top of one of the hills, at a spot where you would expect the car to slow down, it came to an abrupt stop. We sat there for a while when a voice came on and said "Raise your hands if you can hear me" - so we raised our hands. The voice told us that there was a problem with the ride (stating the obvious) and that we would be back on our way soon. I honestly thought that there was no way that the car would gather enough speed to make it through the remainder of the ride. After a few minutes I was proven wrong. The car started moving again and we did, indeed, make it through the ride - though <i>very</i> slowly. I have never been through a loop at that low a speed. It was definitely an interesting experience.</span><br />
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<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next we sat and watched a show called "Mix It Up" at Teatro San Marco. The show was somewhat nonsensical - </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">having something to do with chefs and food -</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> but it had a fun mix of dance, singing and brass instruments which was surprisingly fun. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the show I went on Curse of </span><span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dark Kastle</span><span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (CoDK) using the QQ. Kirk wasn't sure if he wanted to ride because he sometimes has trouble with "motion simulator" rides so I went on it with the intention of reporting back what it was like. I had heard that the ride mechanism was similar to what is used in "Spider-man" (SM) at Universal Islands of Adventure, It is true that, like SM, CoDK has a mix of 3D projections incorporated into a physical environment which you move through is a small motion simulator vehicle - but that is where the similarities end. First, obviously the story line is totally different. Regardless of the story line, the level of execution is vastly different. Where SM seamlessly blends all of the elements of the ride, CoDK seems rather thrown together. A good example was one effect which used fog to make it look as if you were passing through fire. OK, fine, but the fog made my 3D glasses all foggy which meant I missed the next few gags. There was one effect that worked really well, where the main antagonist comes out of a painting and looms above you - it was very convincing.</span><br />
<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, after the ride I reported back to Kirk and he did not think it sounded like a good idea for him to ride it. This decision was reinforced by the fact that I told him it simply wasn't that good.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKcZbUug8l1kGUOlVTDSIwUezJcg5L7C8RLj1DiraasYJ5dMKjQ6GOdr8Hojq30-x5ISzqyVpbmF8eUulOthmv7x0impZj4r_yhRqJq2PKqQmjz9mL28LREI4O4uwriHYOlHSEcTbBaf8/s1600/IMG_0920.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKcZbUug8l1kGUOlVTDSIwUezJcg5L7C8RLj1DiraasYJ5dMKjQ6GOdr8Hojq30-x5ISzqyVpbmF8eUulOthmv7x0impZj4r_yhRqJq2PKqQmjz9mL28LREI4O4uwriHYOlHSEcTbBaf8/s320/IMG_0920.JPG" width="238" /></a></div>
<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We then watched a live wolf show which was fun, after which we decided to check out "Europe in the Air". Based on how this was advertised we were thinking it would be something like "Soarin'" at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Boy were we wrong. It was nothing but a big theater-sized motion simulator - and a particularly bad motion simulator at that. There is nothing worse than a motion simulator where the ride motion is not properly coordinated with the image. That was certainly true of this. The biggest offense was that the ride designers felt it was necessary to make the motion particularly herky-jerky and a much rougher ride than the image justified. Awful. Skip it.</span><br />
<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We decided to end our day at BGW on a high note with another ride on Griffon - but ti was closed because of some technical glitch. Bummer. So we consoled ourselves with another ride on Loch Ness. After that we decided to try Griffon again and were rewarded - it was running again. So, our last ride of the day was what we both felt was the parks best coaster - a nice way to top off the day.</span><br />
<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We left the park and decided to get a bite to eat in Williamsburg. Kirk had remembered a restaurant that he had visited some years ago that he really liked - but we could not find it. We ended up at a place that, unfortunately, I don't recall the name of. I will say it was quite good - we had a very nice light dinner (neither of us were extremely hungry after our big lunch). I wanted dessert but we decided to have dessert elsewhere - but then we could not find anywhere to go. We ended up at a grocery store we bought a pint of ice cream to eat in the room.</span><br />
<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some pictures I took at BGW:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAgypByRc_J3ZH0qxv5GlwHMInPsv7l-gc9keZX6KF4wgxm4VVQDoHa5Vt2IPnUzN6grElYTb8KOFWG5UuQZRsujwlSDvS52jCqIjL5NNItgWua57vw_zsYMkVzGk1l257uDSeZyMp9-w/s1600/IMG_0889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAgypByRc_J3ZH0qxv5GlwHMInPsv7l-gc9keZX6KF4wgxm4VVQDoHa5Vt2IPnUzN6grElYTb8KOFWG5UuQZRsujwlSDvS52jCqIjL5NNItgWua57vw_zsYMkVzGk1l257uDSeZyMp9-w/s320/IMG_0889.JPG" width="238" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpfTfDFNzrvzJMOgYPjMBCcBl0m2ua9srpyFmmyMcNWaSk9dKJKyavIWORtTCShgx7kuuTvcqQfQ-0T8SthCRnAthuFraLzF8elWWdKy4zHQKzxGyeanMsaf1ofiLtFH2qaEoSqTh1Ro/s1600/IMG_0894.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpfTfDFNzrvzJMOgYPjMBCcBl0m2ua9srpyFmmyMcNWaSk9dKJKyavIWORtTCShgx7kuuTvcqQfQ-0T8SthCRnAthuFraLzF8elWWdKy4zHQKzxGyeanMsaf1ofiLtFH2qaEoSqTh1Ro/s320/IMG_0894.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Griffon</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy_KXrz6dhSwSg0AwMXFXizsD6Bn3V2OSFYsp66uSz246MjLZPp8mlQ8MWQlIx8wwehhBziCpbQ5oBGQyeBnXhzZ_POpIg0qHDz6hsD24MFeUMyBVfaJqAu1NkrPr1zqLJXgaNjAXwbkI/s1600/IMG_0895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy_KXrz6dhSwSg0AwMXFXizsD6Bn3V2OSFYsp66uSz246MjLZPp8mlQ8MWQlIx8wwehhBziCpbQ5oBGQyeBnXhzZ_POpIg0qHDz6hsD24MFeUMyBVfaJqAu1NkrPr1zqLJXgaNjAXwbkI/s320/IMG_0895.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buckets</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmwdRsAII0wWlMSNomoZZVJYu44sQa9BCagN5-CWZhyphenhyphen5rPHrMOYiH0DmHXnAeE4TveSW0Bb8nI1e5HywEzzl27NsCIbVJRL9QP9t0P69l6qjtF1hDPovgrBZ8bSxTvFeI8f5KVaztCI4/s1600/IMG_0896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmwdRsAII0wWlMSNomoZZVJYu44sQa9BCagN5-CWZhyphenhyphen5rPHrMOYiH0DmHXnAeE4TveSW0Bb8nI1e5HywEzzl27NsCIbVJRL9QP9t0P69l6qjtF1hDPovgrBZ8bSxTvFeI8f5KVaztCI4/s320/IMG_0896.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice view</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvkdOr9SOB_EiCfFsTdx4jho0xR9eWUPDB8B0PLvjHeUgnEpNNdMxPuRuALULGYGwsQKks_iarY2aZVMER3qxsKyC6vqBxw_cTbKdp1reO1w7CtuRh_HPziCgmxFZwnHjHx81lnBY9-ZI/s1600/IMG_0900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvkdOr9SOB_EiCfFsTdx4jho0xR9eWUPDB8B0PLvjHeUgnEpNNdMxPuRuALULGYGwsQKks_iarY2aZVMER3qxsKyC6vqBxw_cTbKdp1reO1w7CtuRh_HPziCgmxFZwnHjHx81lnBY9-ZI/s320/IMG_0900.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Verbolten</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQBFDhqN9ezouQj55G6XFo6Ct_JYXbBmIKs9rYRfEj_32R7S6RkUVgw3-RoGVDZVgH5eUhaXPa-SZrD7GqV-kzPUwvZSJt2Q5Z795LJga9CjCmU05y2GBWmtT3QvhgkOWn2_SilAJa4A/s1600/IMG_0909.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQBFDhqN9ezouQj55G6XFo6Ct_JYXbBmIKs9rYRfEj_32R7S6RkUVgw3-RoGVDZVgH5eUhaXPa-SZrD7GqV-kzPUwvZSJt2Q5Z795LJga9CjCmU05y2GBWmtT3QvhgkOWn2_SilAJa4A/s320/IMG_0909.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs09U-yh_XQqJT6vFLbl1-FCgm0DXiMuiJrg8ejNQY0giZ9omQqz3RHXbx-ddgIYwCLrrnCgF9EqQu5TpmkfE5JV6BRHSaAktaFIjNen-GmdbfPUOxWcPggVx02Y6Awww5PQlgni1mD7c/s1600/IMG_0913.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs09U-yh_XQqJT6vFLbl1-FCgm0DXiMuiJrg8ejNQY0giZ9omQqz3RHXbx-ddgIYwCLrrnCgF9EqQu5TpmkfE5JV6BRHSaAktaFIjNen-GmdbfPUOxWcPggVx02Y6Awww5PQlgni1mD7c/s320/IMG_0913.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq0B_IGinjkrbLBc-EoCzCWxCRDV-flPKqrUGVFcTVIGUufuro1682B7XNzLrTHMYHnff-I-Q1t4D29SiwgHbaT7ouvmCnZ2qDI2Fg2PJWT6uY_e1msL23BsZ25HVlgFKATBvdbRm68Os/s1600/IMG_0914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq0B_IGinjkrbLBc-EoCzCWxCRDV-flPKqrUGVFcTVIGUufuro1682B7XNzLrTHMYHnff-I-Q1t4D29SiwgHbaT7ouvmCnZ2qDI2Fg2PJWT6uY_e1msL23BsZ25HVlgFKATBvdbRm68Os/s320/IMG_0914.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roman rapids</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6RF8KRkyMQzF0Pdj-YIGaqYCsi2fNPlb2TYyX6_7BZy9vs_6I-11F09UBqE08GJ86jDSK1tb-rs9DGvZC-tgN318pE0eOQwnC93d9rsMkxDSnoS9r9mFUypyoXCQNiJUBalvCnnRqxM/s1600/IMG_0917.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6RF8KRkyMQzF0Pdj-YIGaqYCsi2fNPlb2TYyX6_7BZy9vs_6I-11F09UBqE08GJ86jDSK1tb-rs9DGvZC-tgN318pE0eOQwnC93d9rsMkxDSnoS9r9mFUypyoXCQNiJUBalvCnnRqxM/s320/IMG_0917.JPG" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apollo's Chariot</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHo1gjZQPKJINYqHFcJL7NT_QCnV4ngd-eaHgryf0SAzWua6FmShq_OoHn4chepxprnwoR2IhoTRbH4-zB2OKbxaavRyLDWJh3NXLZQmKoYts5_ryHsi6USL7RHPjJT8Kl4D0feIwyP2o/s1600/IMG_0920.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHo1gjZQPKJINYqHFcJL7NT_QCnV4ngd-eaHgryf0SAzWua6FmShq_OoHn4chepxprnwoR2IhoTRbH4-zB2OKbxaavRyLDWJh3NXLZQmKoYts5_ryHsi6USL7RHPjJT8Kl4D0feIwyP2o/s320/IMG_0920.JPG" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Griffon</td></tr>
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</td><td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52yms2TkcrxZxAyWg-Y0kcEiWnWoXtOsvg_31_lxRsYafZt9lb2KnfJDV3UFGCaBlY54ubk_f4ChebrDP9CqBq9sXNXBoTKfqL5E2cTdmN0t1gxw4EnrK9PbVdtx8tk9ubl3gn0OlBhM/s1600/IMG_0918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52yms2TkcrxZxAyWg-Y0kcEiWnWoXtOsvg_31_lxRsYafZt9lb2KnfJDV3UFGCaBlY54ubk_f4ChebrDP9CqBq9sXNXBoTKfqL5E2cTdmN0t1gxw4EnrK9PbVdtx8tk9ubl3gn0OlBhM/s320/IMG_0918.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loch Ness and Griffon</td></tr>
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<span class="yiv344132656Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>May 7 - Richmond and head home</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next morning we decided to drive down Richmond's famous Monument Avenue and look at some of the statues:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivw6SwVFHdQJyRrIQHrFx9HeVn2iFVjXuGBdVxLWuiPxZ3FItAH9TZ8P8Nhb6FKOVJh9mKygruPctpydD_bPnwgPTxtBjbMx4WQkTUnckVMo9gVbLv3aCDmBxf59H0w0BtVFCvWjAOHjM/s1600/IMG_0927.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivw6SwVFHdQJyRrIQHrFx9HeVn2iFVjXuGBdVxLWuiPxZ3FItAH9TZ8P8Nhb6FKOVJh9mKygruPctpydD_bPnwgPTxtBjbMx4WQkTUnckVMo9gVbLv3aCDmBxf59H0w0BtVFCvWjAOHjM/s320/IMG_0927.JPG" width="238" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our final stop before heading home was another restaurant i had hear about on "Diners. Drive-ins and Dive": <a href="http://www.dotsbackrichmond.com/">Dot's Back Inn</a>. The restaurant is a very cute, funky little place with a fun atmosphere. I had an oyster po-boy and Kirk had meat load. My po-boy was absolutely fantastic - fresh and delicious. Kirk had equal praise for his meatloaf. This place is highly recommended.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After that I drove Kirk to the train station where he would catch his train I then drove the 8 hours back home. Nothing either eventful nor exciting to report there - probably a good thing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well that's it for this year. For next year we have something particularly exciting planned. The bad news is that we have to wait until August 2013. The exciting news is that we are going to the 2013 Disney D23 expo! WOOHOO! I can't wait!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More Adventures with John & Kirk:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-intro.html">Kirk Intro</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-2001-day-1.html">2001 Part 1</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-2001-day-2.html">2001 Part 2</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-2001-day-3.html">2001 Part 3</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-2002-day-1.html">2002 Part 1</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-2002-day-2.html">2002 Part 2</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-2002-day-3.html">2002 Part 3</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-2002-day-4.html">2002 Part 4</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventures-with-kirk-2004.html">2004</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thompsonfamilyweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/kirk-catch-up.html">2005 Catch-up</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<br />John Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09390999450400716175noreply@blogger.com0