Christmas Letter 2022

Greetings from Watts family! We hope you are well and enjoying the holiday season. 

Adam turned 14 in January and continues to enjoy playing video games and hanging out with the other boys in the neighborhood. He recently joined a Dungeons & Dragons group at the local library and looks forward to the meetings. 

Patrick’s big news this year was his new position at Lifeway. After being hired in 2006 to head up marketing, sales, and events for Lifeway Worship, he has spent the past few years on the resources team, primarily working with digital products. In April, he moved to the IT department to be a Software Development Manager for the Product Domain. He and the developers he supervises are responsible for making sure that all of the information about Lifeway’s products is accurate and dependable, and to provide governance and management over the quality of the product data wherever it goes, whether that be to Lifeway’s website, Amazon, Walmart, or any of the other outlets that sell Lifeway products.

Our busy spring continued in May when Adam wrapped up middle school. After spending his seventh grade year at home in distance learning, we were especially proud that he finished eighth grade so well and even earned a spot on the honor roll. 

In June, the Watts boys went coast to coast! Patrick and Adam went to California to visit Disneyland, Legoland, and Huntington Beach, and to attend the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. Adam was a first-time messenger!

They came back home for a couple of days before heading to Miami to participate in the Youth Choir Tour/Mission Trip. The group sang and served at several locations including the Miami Rescue Mission and Bayside Marketplace. They also sang the national anthem at a Miami Marlins game. They managed to squeeze in some Florida fun, too - snorkeling at Key Largo and spending a day at Universal Orlando.

Adam started high school in August, where he has adjusted well despite a few challenges. We’ve all had to adapt to new routines, teachers, and classes. He’s had some busy fall weekends going to TN Maker Fest, Brick Fest, and Pigeon Forge for the youth group fall retreat.

Lydia is able to participate in Sunday School and women’s Bible study at church via Zoom. Though chronic pain and autoimmune disease limits what she can do, she still enjoys cheering on the Vols and Predators from home. 

We love to hear from our friends and family! Connect with us on Facebook or come by for a visit if you are in the area. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed new year.

- Patrick, Lydia, and Adam

2016 Year Ender

Dear friends and family,

We hope you are having a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to 2017. We started the year with quite a bit of snow in Tennessee, which resulted in lots of pre-empted school days for Adam and even some work days for Patrick. It was fun for a day or two, but by day seven, we were ready to get back into a routine.

A big event in our extended family actually happened right before the end of 2016, and that was the arrival of our niece and Adam’s cousin, Abby. She is the daughter of Patrick’s sister Allison and her husband, and she is named after Patrick’s grandmother. Patrick and Adam got to meet Abby during their spring break trip to Texas. Even from two states away, we enjoy watching her grow and seeing her personality start to emerge.

We were overjoyed this year when Adam professed his faith in Christ and was baptized Memorial Day weekend. Adam met with our pastor and worked through a workbook about what it means to be a Christian. He continues to be involved in lots of activities at church including Sunday School, Royal Ambassadors, and children’s choir.

After a winter with lots of snow days, Adam enjoyed a full summer of activities. Our science-loving kid started with Camp Invention at his school where he made some unique creations with household objects. Vacation Bible School at church was a hit as always with fun field trips in the afternoons to destinations around Nashville.

Adam got to get out of his (and Mommy’s) comfort zone during Lego Camp at Camp Widjiwagan. In addition to the Lego time, he got to swim in the awesome pool, play on the “beach”, and ride in a speedboat. Adam got to do more science with Mr. Bond and the Science Guys at another day camp which included “Spy Camp” in the afternoons. The last day camp of the summer was Music Arts Camp at church, where Adam got to be a puppeteer. 

August brought the beginning of third grade. Not surprisingly, Adam’s favorite subject is science. He says his favorite thing about his classroom is the nautical themed decor. He also likes that the lunch line moves quickly. Adam went on a day-long field trip to the children’s museum in Chattanooga with his Encore class. They got to do experiments, and it was “awesome.”

Patrick and Adam had a fantastic fall break trip to Walt Disney World that included getting grazed by a hurricane! They ended up having a fun, lazy day at their resort while Matthew passed. Orlando missed the worst of it, but their flight out was cancelled before the storm hit. So, they had two more days at Disney and came home Monday morning.

All of Pop and Polly’s great-grandchildren gathered in Ohio for Thanksgiving this year. Patrick’s grandparents were thrilled that their grandchildren from Idaho, Texas, and Tennessee all came to visit and especially enjoyed spending time with their three great-granddaughters and one great-grandson.

Patrick continues to enjoy his work at LifeWay. He has been working on a project for church planters with the North American Mission Board. Earlier this year, he was given the quarterly division Value Award in recognition of his work on various projects with  the Publishing and Event Technology department. LifeWay plans to move to a new campus in the Capitol View development late next year.

We love all our friends and family and enjoy hearing from you at Christmas and all throughout the year. We wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Love,

Patrick, Lydia, and Adam

“I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you…”

-Philippians 1:3

Magic on Wheels

We hadn't really planned on going to DisneyWorld this year, but it kind of just came together. Because of my health problems, I didn't know if I would feel well enough to go until the week of the trip, and I knew if I went, I would need to rent an electric scooter and get a handicapped parking tag. I swallowed my pride so I could be there for Adam's first DisneyWorld experience. We asked Patrick's parents to join us for the week so Patrick wouldn't be flying solo if I didn't feel well. I had a Botox treatment right before we left, and I felt better than I had anticipated. Being around the magic helped too.

We usually stay on property to be "in the magic," but with our situation this time, we decided a vacation home would be better. We rented a condo from All-Star Vacation Homes which was just a few minutes from Disney property. It had three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a full kitchen, and a private swimming pool. Adam's room was even Mickey-themed. It was great to pull up to our own parking space right at the front door at the end of the day. Yes, we had to pay for parking at WDW, but we saved way more than that by eating several meals at the condo. The only real downside was that we didn't have an alternative transportation option if we wanted to split up.

On the first day, we drove to Winter Garden to go to Legoland. For a six-year-old obsessed with Legos, it is amazing. It is on the old Cypress Gardens site, and the gardens have been preserved. The park is well done, but not well laid-out. For us, the differences between it and a Disney park and quite noticeable, but I don't think six-year-old boy really appreciate those things. It was a good place for me to get used to navigating the scooter.

The next day (Monday, October 7), Patrick's parents took Adam to the Orlando Science Center while we went to Magic Kingdom and Epcot on our own. They got in for free with our membership to Nashville's Adventure Science Center. Adam loves science and gave OSC a glowing review.

On Tuesday, we planned for me to have a rest day and for the rest of the gang to go to Epcot. I wasn't feeling great when I woke up that morning, but I started thinking about Adam riding Soarin' for the first time and decided I had to be there for that. Thanks to the scooter and effective medications, I made it, and I'm so glad I did.

I think Adam could have spent a week at Epcot. It has a reputation for being a "grown-up" park, but for our little science nut, it was great. He also did Agent P's World Showcase Adventure that evening and really enjoyed it.

We did Magic Kingdom on our last day. We didn't get to see as much as I had hoped because we were tired and it was hot, but we still got to do some fun things. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is the newest attraction, and it is so well done. I love that they have taken Walt Disney's first animated feature and made a headliner attraction for it. Elsa may get all the glory right now, but Snow White was here first. The ride video makes Memory Maker so worth it.


I always tell people you can't do it all at Disney, and hopefully we will get to go again someday when Adam is older and experience more of it.

More pictures!

2013 Anniversary Trip

We decided this year that we would "try out" a Disney cruise for our anniversary with the idea that we would take Adam on one in the future. We try to get away on a trip without Adam every year about this time, and it is something I highly recommend doing. It is a great opportunity to reconnect, and we are blessed to have my parents close by to take care of Adam.

We took a three-day cruise to Nassau and Castaway Cay (Disney's private island) on the Disney Dream. I went on the "Big Red Boat" in 1985, which was Disney's partnership with Premier Cruise Lines before they started their own cruise line. As with everything else Disney does, they have gotten cruising right, and no detail is too small. Plus, it's like cruising with our best friends - Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto.

We also spent a day at Epcot and Magic Kingdom after the cruise. It was our first opportunity to try out Magic Bands, and I was pleasantly surprise with how well they worked.

Here are the pictures!

Adam's First Disney Trip

People have asked us since before Adam was born, "When are you going to take him to Disney?" (He went four times in my belly.) Our answer the past couple of years has been "Whenever he goes to the potty or can pay for himself, whichever comes first." Well, let's just say we paid for this trip. Seriously, we've been enough times to see plenty of kids there who are too young to appreciate it and would rather be somewhere else. Adam is also 43 inches tall, which means he can ride pretty much everything, height-wise.

We decided a long time ago that we wanted Adam's first Disney experience to be at Disneyland, and so he needed to be able to handle at four-plus hour flight. There are several reasons for this:

1) Disneyland was the only park Walt Disney ever saw completed. You can feel him there. There is something more nostalgic, more pure, and maybe even more magical there. 

2) Size and scope. In California, there are two parks instead of four, and they are a few hundred yards apart. It is much less overwhelming. Off-property hotels are in walking distance of the parks. The hotel where we stayed in a two-room suite was in the $88-$150 range and closer to the parks than the Disneyland Hotel. We never had to ride a parking tram, ferry, or monorail to get to the parks. If you've ever asked us for advice on where to stay at Walt Disney World, we will always say stay on Disney property if at all possible. It is a totally different situation there.

3) Cars Land. Several years ago, Disney decided to spend a BILLION dollars on Disney California Adventure and make it the all-day park it should always have been. You can tell. Basically, they recreated Radiator Springs from the Cars movies in real life. It is amazing. Adam has loved the Cars movies since before he could talk. All the parks have princesses a-plenty, and now there is finally something for boys. We didn't tell Adam about Cars Land before we went, and he was pretty excited when he figured it out. If you have a boy, it is worth the trip to California. There is talk of putting a Cars Land at Disney Hollywood Studios in Florida, but it would be several years away.

Patrick posted on Facebook what we learned about doing Disney with a kid:

So, after my first trip to a Disney park with a kid, I COMPLETELY understand how there are people that say, "I hate going to Disney." Here's how to avoid that:

- Set expectations. Do not go in without a plan. Do not walk in the gate and allow your child to be the driver for what you do. If you approach each day with a TouringPlans, you will get tons of fun in a short amount of time. Make them a part of checking off the list. Explain to them that if they see something that they want to do, you'll take a picture of it with your phone so that you can remember. Then, when you've done ten rides in ninety minutes, you can branch out and do things you missed.

(I've heard lots of arguments about why this is not a good idea - lack of spontaneity being the top one. Here's the deal though: I'd rather trade four non-spontaneous hours to have eight truly happy spontaneous ones any day.)

- Give yourself enough time daily, and for the length of your stay. Set alarms and reminders so that you are ahead of schedule all the time. An unrushed morning, nap time, or meal can go a long way to rejuvenate. Add a day more to your vacation than you think you're going to need.

- Budget. Don't complain about the costs of things. Or, if you feel like you have to complain, do it in advance and zip it for the trip. In fact, save up more than you think you need for the trip, and then be happy when you have money left over. This was my first trip to REALLY do that, and we are underspending by a long shot.

- If you have multiple kids, divide and conquer. Let the preschoolers go with one parent and the grade schoolers with another.

- Pack snacks. For everyone. An 8 oz can of Coke is a great in-line boost for the parents, and a juice box can reset an attitude in a second (or at least silence a whine.)

- If your child is under 40 lbs, plan to have him/her on your shoulders. A lot. Work out beforehand. Do squats. Little legs get tired faster than big legs. Face it.

- Don't tolerate whining. Explain that whining results in leaving, and that will help. Don't hesitate to "stop the car" in the middle of the park and have an eye-to-eye conversation with your preschooler.

- Understand there will be times when you do things that seem counter intuitive, like hiking through Tarzan's Treehouse when there are better rides right next door, or not using your Radiator Springs Racers fast passes at the end of the day, or a three hour nap when you paid $80 a day for park tickets. Not the end of the world.

- Enjoy your kids enjoying things. Put down the camera, and put down the smartphone, and put down your agenda, and be amazed at the amazement that they are experiencing.

Bottom of Form- One more tip. There is exactly no rule of thumb when it comes to what your kids like, and you have no way of anticipating it. For instance, Adam has decided that he is not a fan of dark rides. So no Peter Pan, no Snow White. He did, however, surprise us with roller coasters. What's important is that we listened and found this out. With multiple kids, this is where "divide and conquer" is vital.

The weather was pretty cool when we were there, and so you won't see any of the cute t-shirts I took for Adam in the pictures. We were wearing coats and hoodies pretty much the whole time. Somehow, in Southern California, even cool temperatures are more pleasant.

Also, because of the time change, we didn't do any of the nighttime shows. Adam did a good job of telling us when he was done for the day.

Enough talking. Here are the pictures.

MK DS

Disney wants you to pay for the privilege of carrying around a Nintendo DS preloaded with park maps, attraction information and group games to play in line at the Magic Kingdom. On the upside, it does give you attraction wait times when you're nowhere near the attraction. On the downside, it has bad battery life, and isn't one of the points of being at Disney looking at everything around you instead of a screen?

mousefest 2007

Some might say we're Disney geeks. Some might be right.

On our sixth trip and final trip to the world this year, we were understandably moving at a different pace than some of our prior trips. Plus, we had three reasons for going:

• Christmas Decor
• The usual Disney stuff
• MouseFest

MouseFest is a week-long meetup of Disney fans from communities across the Internet. We found out about it through our favorite Disney podcast WDW Today. It can best be described as a "federation" of loosely affiliated groups. It began back in the USENET days when people who frequented the rec.arts.disney.parks newsgroup decided that it would be neat to see who was behind the posts. With the advent of newer technologies like websites and discussion boards and podcasts, all the Disney flies have found their favorite flames, and Mousefest brings all those groups together.

The interesting thing about us being there is that we're not really a part of any community. We are just "consumers," we listen to podcasts and read the websites... we don't generate any content or contribute to discussions on a regular basis. Actually there's one exception - we have called in to several of WDW's live shows this year asking questions about all our trips. I'm happy to report that even if you're mainly an onlooker to the Disney community, Mousefest is still worth the trip.

Thursday

We arrived late Wednesday night, picked up our rental car and checked in at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort. This was the first time we had ever stayed in a "moderate" resort at the World, and we would do it again. The campus-style setup has about eight buildings in a semi-circle around a pool and main building. The whole resort is deep south-styled... not so much "downtown" New Orleans... but more like a plantation. Music is pervasive at the World, and at POR, that means dixieland, and in December... dixieland Christmas carols. By day 4, I didn't "need a little Christmas" any more. Mouse Fan Travel had secured us a great rate, actually a group rate, for the trip.

On Thursday morning, we drove to the ticket and transportation center, and took a trip around the monorail hotels to see their Christmas decor. It's pretty impressive, but I have to admit that we are a little spoiled around here in Tennessee.

We went from the hotels to the Magic Kingdom for the first MouseFest event: MouseFest 101 - an introduction for "newbies" like us who had never been to MouseFest before. Toward the end, they encouraged us to mingle and create our own MouseFest meets, so I suggested a "Pack the Carousel of Progress" meet. Since it wasn't on the schedule, and was only two hours after the first meet, we didn't exactly "pack" the Carousel, but some folks did show up!! That was pretty cool.

After our ad hoc meet, we went to the castle to see it light up for Christmas. They've strung hundreds of thousands of LED lights all over it, creating sort of an icicle effect. Always great at telling a story, the Disney folks said it was Cinderella's "wish come true."

We had dinner at Pecos Bill's, and got our armbands for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. This is a "hard ticket" event - one that even annual passholders can't get into unless you buy a separate ticket. About 6:00, they start making announcements that are basically, "the Magic Kingdom will be closing... get out unless you've got a ticket to the Party." At 7:00, cast members are stationed at strategic places throughout the park asking to see your wristband. Also, cast members at the shows and rides start prohibiting non-banded guests from entering. I got the feeling they wouldn't have blinked about radioing security if you were noncompliant.

During the party, there are several exclusive things that happen. Several shows play that never get played any other time. Mickey's Night Before Christmas was a fun interpretation of the classic story. Also, it snows on Main Street. Okay, it soap chips on Main Street, but it looks like it's snowing. And, due to some sort of gap in the space-time continuum, you can actually get free food in the park. The extent of the free food is hot chocolate and sugar cookies, but if you wanted to, you could eat a thousand of them. (Yes, I know it's not really "free," but any other time in the park, you would have paid for admission and then paid again to eat.) There's a Christmas-themed parade, and the evening is capped off by the "Holiday Wishes" fireworks show. It ends up with fireworks going off all around the park simultaneously. It's a great effect.

Friday

Amazingly, we had two late starts in a row at the World... not something we normally do. And this day, we hit three parks. We started in Disney's Animal Kingdom to see Matt Hochberg ride Dinosaur , a ride that he is mortally afraid of, for charity. We didn't actually see him at the ride, but did see him and his fiancee Marissa as they were headed out of the park. Since we missed the festivities, we decided to try to get into the new, but unfortunately named Yak and Yeti restaurant. They had an almost immediate seating for two, and we got to dine on miso salmon and lettuce wraps .

From there, we went to Disney -MGM's Hollywood Studios for the "PodFest" meet where we got to see eighteen different podcasters and hear about what they had to offer. There are a bunch of Disney podcasts out there... everything from the ones we listen to to ones that just focus on a specific park to ones that focus on special features to... uh... general interest ones? Again, a great place to put names and faces together. And, we happened upon Marissa (to be Hochberg) and enjoyed getting to know her a little.

Our next stop was a meet-up to see the Muppet Vision 3D attraction, and we won a free T-shirt from Magic Meets. After the show, we went to the Streets of America to park and get a good viewing place for the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. This five million-plus light display began at the Osborne's home, but grew so large that Disney approached them about continuing it at the studios. It "snows" there too.

After about an hour of the lights, we left for Epcot and a special viewing of "Holiday Illuminations," the end-of-the-day fireworks show. Because it was MouseFest and because we had booked with Mouse Fan Travel they had arranged a dessert party and private viewing of the fireworks show near the England pavilion in World Showcase. Not only was the fireworks show incredible, but Mouse Fan Travel really "plussed" the experience. Highly, highly recommended.

Saturday

Our third late start in a row, we headed to Epcot with the intent of getting a fastpass for Soarin', but when we walked in the front gate, we found that they had briefly opened the still under refurbishment Spaceship Earth.

This is the kind of thing that is the reason behind why we love going to the World. It's a "behind the scenes," "in the know," "limited time only," "magic" experience that we just go nuts about. Invariably, there's always something on our trip... a cast member we talk to, a dessert we get... a show we see... a detail that we notice... that is just above and beyond our expectations.

As far as the actual ride goes, it's not wildly different from before, but several of the audio animatronics are much more realistic, and the "descent" at the end is much more interactive than just watching fiber optic lights zip around over your head.

Since our plan was blown, we went to Sunshine Seasons for lunch and then to the International Gateway to take a boat to the Dolphin Hotel for the Mega Mouse Meet.

The Mega Mouse Meet was a fun place to meet all of the "meta-celebrities" that we know from Disney websites and books. We got to pick up lots of free souvenirs from travel agencies, publishing companies and podcasters. There were several door prizes, but our numbers weren't drawn. Lydia wore the special shirt that her friend Susan made for her and got lots of smiles.

After the meet, we saw the new film at Canada and saw the Impressions de France movie before getting in line for Epcot's major Christmas production, Candlelight Processional. Involving local choirs, Disney employees, the Voices of Liberty and a celebrity narrator, this show has been going on for 13 years, and is one of the few acknowledgments of the real Christmas story on property. And I'm not talking about Santa.

I put Lydia in line at 4:00, and I went and got us dinner from Yakitori House. We waited... and waited... and didn't get in to the 5:00 show, so we had to stay in line until the 6:45 show, where we got fairly good seats. The moral of the story is - if go to see Candlelight Processional, splurge for the dinner package. Although it doesn't guarantee you a great seat, it does guarantee you a seat for the show you want to see, thus saving you two hours of touring time.

The show was good, memorable, and on par with what a megachurch could/would do. My feeling was that if you never normally went to a large church at Christmas, you would be very impressed. Also, (and I'll make this brief,) the script told the entire story of Jesus's life... through his ministry, persecution, crucifixion... and... uh... that was it. They kind of left out the most important part, but I guess there's only so much "separation of church and mouse" that can be violated. Hang on while I snag that speck because...

Sunday

We went, planks in our eyes and all, to the Magic Kingdom again. One of the meets we went to was a "DSI - Disney Scene Investigation" with Lou Mongello and Jeff Pepper. They started at Liberty Square and worked their way down Adventureland telling us about every detail of architecture and story that Disney had worked in. Did you know that the architecture moves forward in time from the 1700s to the 1900s? Did you know that there was originally a gunfight between the DVC outpost and a tower across the street? Did you know that there is a detailed story behind the McDonald's fry cart? Did you care? I thought not.

We couldn't make it through the whole meet because we had reservations for lunch at the Kona Cafe at Disney's Polynesian Resort. The "Poly" is our favorite hotel on property, and we kind of have a tradition now of having our last lunch there before we go to the airport. However, Lydia wanted to milk some more out of the experience, so we hit the MK one more time to see a few more attractions.

Lessons Learned

• Getting around WDW seven months pregnant is not easy, but it's still very doable
• If you go at Christmas, either go to do the Christmas things, or go to do the Disney things. Don't try to do both... your head will explode.
• When we go with Watts 2.0, we'll probably try to stay in a king bed at a moderate resort. There's lots of room for a pack-and-play.
• MouseFest is fun
• Get a reservation for Candlelight Processional
• Book through Mouse Fan Travel. It's either the same as or cheaper than booking through Disney, and you never know what cool little plusses you're going to get.
• The slowest transportation option is always the boat.
• Unless you're in the front two rows at Epcot, always take the parking tram.
• Six trips in one year is enough. Okay, it's too much, but it sure was fun.

my ultimate MK attempt

There are two basic ways to approach a day at Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

1. we'll just go and enjoy the things we can
2. we are going to conquer this kingdom and suck every last bit of mirth out of it until we can hear Mickey cry "uncle!"

The interesting thing is that both camps generally go away after the fact very satisfied with their results.

1. "Oh, we had a great time, even though we may have missed a few things."
2. "Oh, we had a great time, even though we may have beat ourselves close to the point of death."

The adherents to Camp 2 have a kindred soul in Len Testa, co-author of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. His crack team of researchers consistently evaluates the queueing in the World, analyzing wait times and attraction load capacities, and producing touring plans tailored to different groups of people visiting each of the four theme parks. These are published in the aforementioned book, and online (via subscription for most plans) at touringplans.com.
The Magic Kingdom is probably the most challenging of the four parks to tour, because of its popularity, and because of the sheer number of attractions in the park. Many of the touring plans are "two day" plans for families, older couples, etc. But there is one... one plan to rule them all... the Ultimate Magic Kingdom Touring Plan.

The goal of the Ultimate plan is to see "all" of the Magic Kingdom in one day. I say, "all," because a big part of the "all" of the Magic Kingdom is the charm, ambiance, and people watching times. These are not covered in the plan. What is covered is every show, every ride, every ceremony and every parade that happens in the course of a day at the Kingdom.

It is not intended for families, first-time visitors, or for anyone simply wanting a nice day in the Magic Kingdom. It is designed for physically fit theme park veterans looking for a unique challenge.

So, of course, I had to try it.

I didn't make this an "official" attempt because I knew we'd have a couple of challenges. First, it was a gametime decision. I didn't know whether it would fit in our schedule, or our dining reservations. As it turned out, the Sunday of our trip was the day that worked the best. Since I didn't print out the plan before we got to the park, I was sneaky and used faxzero.com to send it to the Pop Century fax machine. Second, to make it official, you have to have a cell phone in hand and let Len know in advance. The third reason was that Lydia's current "condition" prohibits her from some attractions, and I didn't want her to feel like she was letting me down on an official try. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't try for an official one. This attempt taught me a couple of things.

The first thing on the plan after "get to the park 30 minutes early" is "ride Dumbo." If you're familiar with the Magic Kingdom attractions, you might quickly be thinking, "Dumbo?? What about Space Mountain? What about Splash Mountain? Haven't you seen the line to see Mickey? Start with Dumbo?" Dumbo is a cycle ride, which means that it cycles on and off. Load up with sixteen to thirty-two riders, run for a minute, unload sixteen to thirty-two riders. The ride is actually NOT in a ride cycle more than it is... it takes a lot longer to load and unload passengers. Contrast that with something like Buzz Lightyear where there are 90+% of the vehicles going through the ride at any given time. Combine the cycle ride fact with the fact that Dumbo is the centerpiece of Fantasyland, and it makes it one of the least efficient rides in the park.

So we got to the park early, and to our surprise, they were already letting folks in. We re-checked our schedule... yep... evening extra magic hours... so we're not supposed to be in until 9:00. Maybe they're letting folks in early for rope drop. We get to the castle, and it's open.

We get through... and Fantasyland is open. Woops. I guess because we didn't check in with any preschoolers, we didn't get the memo. There goes the plan. We had to wait 20 minutes to get Dumbofied, and by the time we got through, we were "off plan" for the rest of the day.

Luckily, because the crowd levels were fairly low, I did manage to get a lot of the tour done. The second lesson of the attempt was to work early viewings of the shows in to the plan. I was all set for the 4:05 "Storytime with Belle" so that I could make the 5:00 flag retreat ceremony, and the heavens opened, replete with lightning. When I got to Belle's storytime spot, the cast member there was telling a six year-old that "Belle had decided to go to Mickey's ToonTown where she could be out of the rain."

I'm sure there will be a "next time" (maybe when our child is somewhere in the eight to ten year-old range...) and I'll achieve the Ultimate!

Summary
Attractions experienced (36):Dumbo, Tomorrowland Speedway, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan's Flight, it's a small world, Snow White's Adventure, Mickey's PhilharMagic, The Mad Tea Party, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Barnstormer, Toontown Hall of Fame (w/one character autograph), Mickey's Country House, Minnie's Country House, Space Mountain, Ariel's Grotto, The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Carribean, Tom Sawyer Island, Fort Langhorne, Enchanted Tiki Birds, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Afternoon Parade, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Country Bear Jamboree, Frontierland Shootin' Arcade, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Tomorrowland Arcade, Flag Retreat, Carousel of Progress, Stitch's Great Escape, Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, Exposition Hall on Main Street (photo), Jungle Cruise, Evening Fireworks, Woody's Round-up

Closed or not scheduled (5): Hundred Acre Wood, Donald's Boat, Swiss Family Treehouse, Character Greeting at Diamond Horseshoe Revue, Evening Parade

Missed (8): Cinderella's Carousel, one of the Main Street Vehicles, WDW Railroad, Liberty Belle Riverboat, Hall of Presidents, Story Time with Belle, Dream Along with Mickey, Shrunken Ned's Junior Jungle Boats

when will he finish this trip report?

Day 3

There's a reason they call it the "Magic Kingdom." To turn a Disney phrase, Day 3 was easily our most "magical."

The day began as usual at the crack of 7:00 a.m. (remember... it feels like 6:00 a.m. Central) with our jaunt to the Ticket and Transportation Center. Upon arrival, we boarded Monorail Black for our non-stop service to the Magic Kingdom. Through the Contemporary Hotel, first Space Mountain and then Cinderella's castle came into view. I don't think I'll ever be non-plussed at the sight. Even if I get jaded, the sheer psychological engineering of the imagineers - knowing the angles of sight and engineering challenges overcome - will make it worth the trip.

The turnstiles were already churning when we got to the main gates, so we went on and positioned ourselves at the tunnel under the railroad track for the opening celebration. Someday when we have our heads about us, we'll actually stand where we can see the train arrive, and the fab 5 do their big welcoming number. Someday we'll leisurely walk down Main Street and take in all the ambiance instead of racing down it like there's no tomorrow. We should have known that our quest, Space Mountain, would be temporarily blocked by cast members prior to the official 9:00 a.m. park opening. Now, we do.

We walked as quickly as the cast members did to Space Mountain, and rode, and loved it again. At 30 years old, it's very retro-future, but it so evokes memories of Star Wars and Star Trek and all the other spacey things I grew up loving.

From there, Len told us to go to Fantasyland to hit all the super-popular, soon-to-be-hour-long wait rides. From there, we hopped on Big Thunder Mountain and then criss-crossed hitting several things we both enjoy... wrapping up about 11:15.

We boarded Monorail Pink and headed for the Polynesian Hotel for our lunch reservation at Kona Cafe. The "Poly" is one of our favorite places at the World, partially because it's where we splurged last year to celebrate my big career change, and partially because it's just an amazingly well done experience. Our lunch was great, and we skipped dessert, because we knew we could get Dole Whips at Captain Cook's.

After indulging, we walked the grounds and found a lone hammock on the quiet beach... the one nowhere near the "fun" pool, and just laid in it for about half an hour, watching the boats, the birds and the gentle swoosh of the monorail going by. It was restful and wonderful. Highly recommended... just don't go there the day we're there. We want our hammock back. :D

Afterwards, we rented a "SeaRaycer" - a two person mini-boat that's powered like a JetSki and tooled around the lake. That was cool... people on the monorail waved at us and the monorail driver honked his horn. Little known fact: if you return the boat in under 30 minutes, you might get charged the unposted 15-minute rate of $15 instead of the published $25 rate.

That afternoon, we returned to the Magic Kingdom and used some fastpasses we collected. Right before dinner, we parked in Frontierland and called in to our favorite Internet radio show about Walt Disney World. It was pretty cool getting to be the "field correspondants" for a few minutes! Once Mike Newell gets around to posting the show, you should be able to listen to our contribution at their website. We have no idea what we followed or preceeded since we were "offline" at the park.

Dinner was Pecos Bill's. Tip - skip the fries at Pecos, and pick them up at the McDonald's fries kiosk just to the west of the restaurant. The Pecos Bill's burgers and fixins are good, but the fries are just average.

We then situated ourselves for the parade at a location that Len suggested on our phone call. It was great (as evidenced by the pictures... click the picture at the top of this post to see.)

We ended the evening, pretty exhausted, back at the ECP.

year of a million mice - trip 2, continued

day 2

Saturday was our EPCOT day. It began like any other park visiting day for us... up at the crack of dawn, ready to attack.

Future World opened at 9:00, so we were in the parking lot by 8:20, ready to get in line. According to the crowd calendar, Saturday was a "5," very reasonable crowd levels. From our last trip, we learned that you don't have to break your neck trying to get in the turnstiles... they have developed a very orderly system to park entry.

At 8:45, they began letting people into the park, past Spaceship Earth (into the gift shops, surprise!) and to the fountain area between the Innoventions buildings (formerly Communicore) for a rope drop. After they drop the rope, cast members walk you to the various top tier attractions through the Innoventions walkways.

We headed first to a ride that we discovered in Anaheim, Soarin' and promptly FastPassed it to ride it again. Even though it was only about 9:10, our return times on the FastPasses were after 11:00.

From there, we hopped a bit ahead of our touring plan because we didn't really care for Mission Space the last time we were there and headed to another favorite, Test Track. Again, following the touring plan, there was little to no line for the attraction.

We hit the rest of the Future World attractions that interested us, riding both Journey into Imagination and Ellen's Energy Adventure for the first time for both of us. Well sort of for the first time. I had ridden the original Universe of Energy ride many years ago.

We had lunch at the Lotus Blossom Cafe and then stopped by the Mexico pavilion for the newly refurbished Gran Fiesta Tour featuring the Three Caballeros. The boat ride is a hunt for Donald, and is a neat sound and light tour through Mexican culture. It continually amazes me how immersive Disney can make its ride experiences, even with the limited space and technology that this pavillion has.

When we left the park, for the second day in a row, we thought it would be quicker to walk to our car than take a tram... and got passed by the tram. Especially at Disney's Animal Kingdom (which... is the proper name of the park... not just "Animal Kingdom," lest you forget whose it is...) the bizarre parking lot topology (note that only the blacktop is guest parking... the white concrete is cast members) means that inevitably, the tram is your best bet.

During the afternoon, we headed back to our "resort" for a quick nap, and that evening, headed out to procure washcloths (see the trip advisor post...) and check out the Disney's Character Premiere outlet store. If you're looking for last year's souvenirs at half price, this is the place for you. Lots of "2006" things, and winter clothing. It was worth the trip though... we did find a few things we couldn't pass up. We had dinner at the very quiet and relatively kid free Outback Steakhouse near the mall. It was also nice to see "real world" prices on a menu!

Our TripAdvisor ECP review

Hot, hot, hot showers. VERY hot. Like keep your toddlers out of the bathroom hot.

year of a milion mice - trip 2

Day 1

Mickey trip number two this year was a spur of the moment choice, spurred on by two frequent flier tickets on Southwest that were ready to expire. We decided early on that this would be our "cheap trip..." and we did pretty good on that count.

Thursday afternoon, we flew down to Orlando, rented our discounted car from Budget (thanks again for those years in the Navy, Dad) and checked in to our luxurious accomodations: the Econo Lodge Polynesian. Lydia summed up our feelings about the hotel when we got back, "I didn't feel like I had to change hotels in the middle of the trip." That's about as nice as it got. The upside: HOT showers. The downside: too many to mention... but no washcloths and "bring your own shampoo" come to mind. Luckily, we were focused on park time, not "resort" time... but we did end up having a great Polynesian experience in a different location.

Friday morning, we headed for Disney's Animal Kingdom to do something we'd been trying to do for about a year: ride Expedition Everest. It was first on our list, and an awesome experience! Disney's "imagineers" are famous for taking a ride concept, a food concept, a hospitality concept... whatever... and, to use a Walt Disney term: "plus-ing" it. They don't just put a newspaper in the lobby of the hotel at "Tower of Terror," they make sure it's a reproduction of a paper of the time period, with interesting stories and real copy. They don't just give you a waffle shaped like Mickey Mouse, they put it on Mickey Mouse-shaped sprinkles that melt beneath it and create rainbows in the syrup left on your plate. Everest's "plus-ing" is evident in every dimension... from the elaborately designed queue to the innovative ride system itself.

The rest of the morning we spent doing some of our favorite rides - Kilimanjaro Safari and Dinosaur, and then we went to the newest attraction at the Kingdom, Finding Nemo - The Musical. Disney has always done a great job with shows that build on their movie properties, and this one is no exception. From the clever, yet simple pre-show that had kids yelling, "Nemo!" to the amazingly fluid and believable puppet/person combinations for all of the characters, it was a fantastic experience.

We retired to our posh hotel for a breather, and returned to the AK resort area for dinner at Jiko, the Animal Kingdom Lodge's marquee restaurant. Because our Advance Dining Reservation noted that we had a member of our part with lactose intolerance, we were presented with a special menu created especially for Lydia... not just an explanation, but a complete menu! We began with the "Taste of Africa" appetizer, and split the Lamb Shank for our entree. The combination was more than enough for the two of us. Jiko was, and will probably be a highlight for future visits to the World.

(three more days posts coming...)

it was the best of times...

Last week, we went to the Metro I Music Ministers' Conference at the Grand Floridian Resort at Disney World. Since Patrick has three business trips to Orlando this year, we purchased annual passes to the Disney parks.

We arrived on Tuesday, February 13. We checked into the Grand Floridian, Disney's flagship resort, and headed to the Disney Studios to get our picture with JoJo and her lion for Reganne. It started raining when we arrived, but we discovered that the Studios is the best park for a rainy day because so much of it is inside. We came out of the Great Movie Ride and the sun was out. We decided to stay in the park for Fantasmic! even though we've seen it on both coasts. They set the water on fire and Mickey shoots fireworks out of his fingers. You just can't beat that. It's just amazing to think that they pull that off every night.

The next morning (Valentine's Day), we ate breakfast at the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian (our favorite resort). Patrick finally got to have Tonga Toast after talking about it for a year. Patrick went to the conference to make his presentation to the music ministers, and I went to my favorite place in the world other than my house, the Magic Kingdom.

I went to the hat shop to buy some thing for the magical wonder-niece, and then walked out onto Main Street USA. I noticed that they were blocking the street off and cast members were lined up along the sidewalks. I asked a cast member what was going on and she said, "We're having a wedding." A WEDDING!?! On the steps of Cinderella's Castle! This took my breath away. It's every little girl's dream come true TIMES TEN. The wedding was a part of Disney's Year of a Million Dreams celebration. I took pictures with my phone and our little video camera. The couple, John and Julie, are Christians and their wedding was a testimony of their faith. Their pastor performed the ceremony, which included the lighting of a unity candle and a hand-washing ceremony. The pastor even talked about marriage being a covenant and that divorce wasn't an option. It was an awesome witness.

Patrick came over to the Magic Kingdom after his presentation, and we had lunch at Casey's Corner. We enjoyed another couple of hours there before going back to the hotel to freshen up for the dinner at Epcot. LifeWay sponsored a dinner at The American Experience for the music ministers. The Voices of Liberty provided musical inspiration. We ended the evening by watching Illuminations.

it was the worst of times...

The next day, we went to Epcot at opening and experienced all the Future World attractions. (Test Track was awesome!) We had lunch at Le Cellier in the Canada pavilion. I was feeling sluggish, and we decided to go back to the room for a nap. My throat had been sore all day, and by the time we got back to the hotel, I knew I was sick. We went to the Polynesian for dinner - I had Dole Whip. By the next morning, Patrick was running a 101 degree fever. We stayed in the room all day Friday and as long as we could before checking out on Saturday. We limped home only to be greeted by snowy and slick streets on our way home from the airport. The bright spot was that our master bedroom and bathroom and foyer had been painted while we were gone, and it looked beautiful. We'll post pictures of the new decor soon.

Disney World Trip Pictures