Disney Mis-Adventures

I think I should change my blog to Travelling with Binks. I think it has a certain ring to it, no?

Now, if you read my last post, you know that after turkey day, we were on our way to Disney World. Mr. Potter rented a car while he was visiting, so we drove up to the MILs to pick him up, or rather, drop off my car.

Everything started out nice and friendly and the brothers, Salty & Potter, had lots to discuss and catch up on. Then, some subject of family came up and ......dun-dun-dun.... big surprise, Salty gets his knickers in a twist and goes into defensive mode. When this happens, I am usually all kid gloves and tippytoes. Potter, being the older (and middle) brother continues to try and get his point across and make the little brother see his point of view. Have you ever heard the expression "butting heads"? I think that these brothers invented it. (And butting heads in my mind becomes big butt heads.) Technically, I agreed with Potter but keeping those kid gloves on, had to talk the Salt down. With the peace temporarily restored, we drove the next 3 hours in silence. Yeah, that isn't true, but it was relatively (like how I did that?) calm.

We arrived at our hotel, The Coronado Springs Resort and found our room.

This is what a moderate Disney hotel looks like:

King size bed? Check

Television? Check

Desk/Table? Check

Refridgerator? Check

Feels like Holiday Inn? Check

Price is comparable to Holiday Inn? hahahahahahahahahahahaha

It was around 8:30 pm and we never had dinner, so we met Lancelot & family to get some grub. Lance made reservation at the on site restaurant, Maya Grill. I love me some Mexican food but a 9:30 reservation? This resort seemed a little on the dead side. Really? 9:30?

Disney's description? "Soaring columns divide the space into smaller dining areas. Mexican tile floors, subdued lighting and a centrally located fountain add to the atmosphere."

When we arrived, the place was a morgue. Maybe 4 or 5 other tables, and nary a fountain in sight. The staff was just hanging out chatting and the menu was not very Mexican, Aztec, Spanish or Latin unless you were making a meal out of appetizers, the only ethnic choices on the menu. (if you are so inclined to see the menu, you can find it here)

After dinner, we decided to turn in early to get an early start to the next day. We were able to get into the park an hour earlier than the rest of the yahoos, and I was unsure of what the crowd would be. The bed was supposed to be a Sealy Posturpedic. I would call it a foam coated brick and the pillows were stuffed with 2 ounces of cotton balls. Flat and lumpy, just how I like 'em. The TV was a 19 inch with a broken remote. Or was it? It didn't work when we went to bed but when we woke up in the middle of the night (3:45) it was functioning just fine. Next morning at 7 am? not working (do I have a vacation, remote ghost or what?) We got out early (I was running late and we missed the first bus) enough to get to the park on time. We went to Disney Hollywood Studios.

(I really don't know who those peeps are, my camera is just a piece-o-crap and just focuses on whatever it wants.) We got in at 8 and rushed back to the newest ride, Toy Story Mania . The ride line was a 70 minute wait and the FastPass line had 200 people in it. The park was officially open for 6 minutes. Where the hell did these people come from?? We got in line for a FastPass and our ride time was for 10:50 am. We then walked to the other side of the park to ride the Tower of Terror. We only waited about 10-15 minutes and WEEEEE!!! It was a fun ! Off to the Rockin'RollerCoaster and some Aerosmith jams. Wait time? 70-80 minutes. Ummmm - no thanks. We opted for coffee and a ginormous cinnamon bun. We went and waited for our FastPass time to arrive for the Toy Story ride. Here is a photo of my nephew and some fat chick posing with a green army man. (why oh why do I turn sideways for photos - mental note... no side photos and next time, skip the cinnamon bun)

I loved the plastic pads on his feet.

Salty brothers - can you guess who the oldest is? The ride was lots of 3-D fun for the whole family. You sit in a moving car and cruise by several target screens and try to shoot the items with your little pop gun. The car keeps score for you and although I was not the high score in the group, I came in a very respectable 2nd. The rest of the day was walking back and forth across the park to check the wait times on the Aerosmith ride. Lancelot and his family decided to wait the two hours for the 38 second ride. So, Salty, Potter and I did other stuff.

I will tell you that the park was mobbed. Here is a photo from around 6:30 pm. Again, I apologize for the photo, but you can surely see the throng.

We decided to go visit the holiday display. I saw this display about 8 years ago but now it was giant and the lights are sycronized with the music and they had snow. (okay, it was soap bubbles made to look like snow.)

The hotel sucketh and the park was waaaayyy too crowded for my liking, but, all in all, we had a nice visit.

sidenote # 1: Why, with the state of the economy and all, were there,at least, 10,000 people in the park at about $80 bucks a pop.
sidenote # 2: I found out my SIL (Mrs. Potter) is a blog reader!!
Who knew.
And just in case they are reading, a big shoutout to Jen & Ed!