Sunday: A pretty boring day as far as vacations go. Woke up, had breakfast, and then drove out to the airport to pick up the other 2/5 of the Hutsell's. Their day had started early (4:30 am early) and, after an hour delay in Detroit, had to really rush to make their connection in Cincinnati. But, all is well that ends well, and by 11 am all of the Hutsell's were reunited in Orlando.
Spent the rest of the day at the hotel. Lots of swimming, lots of mini golfing, lots of boys running everywhere. Grandma and Gramps arrive around 4 pm; Aunt Melissa arrives shortly thereafter. Pizza's for dinner; Giordano's deep dish Chicago-style pizza that was simply awesome. More swimming, more golfing, Star Trek Wrath of Khan on tv (twice even!), and a quiet night ends late.
Monday: Decide to start the week of Disney at the Disney Hollywood Studios. First stop is at the Star Tours ride, which, all boys enjoyed but Christopher was disappointed that you didn't actually land at Endor.
Second stop is the Indiana Jones show. Again, a good time had by all.
Indiana crashes through the ceiling to start the show
Indiana about to do the sand/golden idol switch
Indiana battles the Germans
Next is the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. We've all done this before, but, not everyone remembered it well. I did, and wasn't looking forward to it. Christopher remembers that he didn't like it, but, was going to do it again.
"Get ready, this is where the real fun begins. The Tower of Terror has progressed since it's debut when the drops were pre-programmed. Now a computer is in control making each ride random and unique. You never know how many times you'll go up and down and up and down and......"
By my count, we went down, and then down some more, and then up and down again at least four times. I think the biggest up takes you to up near the letters you see and then down (free fall) back to the bottom again. Dad's holding his seat 'grips' and hoping things end soon (I didn't see the picture taken during the ride, but, Suzanne reports it looks like I'm constipated trying to push as hard as I can....there's some mental imagery for you!)....we know from his story (and the confirming photo) that Kevin never took his hands down and kept them raised above his head the entire time (and had a blast!). Matthew reports it was fun, but, a little scary and was excited to talk about it with Kevin at the end. Suzanne's a fan of these types of rides and liked it as well......
Christopher hated it. Hated hated hated it. He's been on it twice now, and I'll be really surprised if he gets on it again. Was totally pissed off afterwards, and had to spend a lot of time getting the big guy settled down again. Had to talk with him about Dad's rationalization of these things (at least I can say I did it.....it really only lasts for a little more than a minute...etc...)
Have lunch after this...park's really crowded, so, this take's a while. Afterwards, we split up. Kevin and Matthew go to the rock and roll coaster, and the rest of us go down into the park. We stop and watch the High School Musical 3 show; Christopher is very happy and enjoys all of this.
We finish the HSM 3 show and we're right near the new American Idol show....and it starts in 5 minutes. Walk over, and we're one of the last 20 people who get into the theatre. Really good, really well done, and Christopher again really enjoyed it.
The last of the three contestants (she didn't win...the girl who won was very good and is singing the national anthem at the NBA game tomorrow night)
Christopher clapping during the show
Leave the show and meet up with Kevin and Matthew....Matthew can't stop talking telling us how cool the roller coaster is. There will be a lot of Kevin-Matthew coaster rides in the coming years.
"It goes up, and upside-down, and over and around, and it was awesome!"
...we're kind of in-between shows and times now....we decide to wait for the parade, and Christopher gets his face painted.
Darth Maul good-ness
Watch the parade (and realize that the boys are mostly beyond these parades now) and then determine the best approach is to split up...Suzanne, Kevin, and Matthew will stay at the park and make good use of our Fast Passes at the coaster at 5:30, the rest of us head for the hotel. Christopher gets a fun filled game of mini golf with Grandma; Matthew and Kevin get repeated upside-down events. Everyone is happy.
