Space Mountain: Still Amazing After All These Years ... Get Fat Or Die Tryin' ... Wait DisneyWorld ... French Food? Oui Oui! ... Part 2

Well, hello everybody. I just flew back from Florida and boy are my arms
tired! Ha! (I'll be here all week ...)

Our week at the Happiest Place on Earth turned into the greatest time any of
us has ever had. We did everything. We ate nachos and tacos out of styrofoam
boxes on Thanksgiving Day, watched Mickey Mouse emerge victorious in a
battle with every villain that ever graced a Disney big screen, sat under a
brilliant fireworks show over Cinderella's Castle, drove through a savannah
safari, rode lightning-fast roller coaster and took a Star Wars trip to
Endor to visit the Ewoks, drank Beer in Germany and ate the Cake-of-the-Day
in France and so, so, so much more.

One of the first rides we did, Day 1, was Space Mountain. When I was about 5
or 6, I went to DisneyWorld with my uncle Bo and aunt Anita. I have very few
memories of that trip ... Wait a minute? Would it have killed you people to
take a few snapshots? I mean, was I that homely that my one trip as a child
to DisneyWorld didn't even rate a few photos? WTF? Anyway, my only memories
of Space Mountain were of the long walkway to get to the actual cars of the
ride, and then some flashing blue lights, but that's it. And I've wondered
for years why I couldn't remember anymore of that right. Well, when Emma and
I hit that ride on Day 1, I realized why I had no visions in my brain from
that day. ALMOST THE ENTIRE RIDE TAKES PLACE IN THE DARK! But it's awesome.
It's a jumpy, jerky, dippy and twisty whirlwind of a ride that is still
amazing after all these years. I ran the video camera so, if you're
interested, I'd be happy to share. Yep, it's dark, but the audio's pretty
cool.

We really packed in as much fun as humanly possible. We walked and walked
and by the end of the days my feet were ready to fall off. Eating was ...
Well, not the high point of our trip. It's nearly impossible to eat healthy
in DisneyWorld. Burgers and fries are available everywhere, but sheesh,
where can a guy get a darn salar around here! So I guess the constant
walking and fatty foods sort of cancel each other out.

The waiting in line aspect of DisneyWorld could have been a lot worse had we
not followed some good advice I got from a friend. We hit the parks early
and hit all the rides and attractions we wanted to hit before the masses
arrived. By noon or 1 when it was insanely crowded, we got back on a bus and
took naps in our hotel rooms and went swimming. Then, at 5 or so when people
began leaving the park, we headed right back in and did as much as we could
until closing time.

As for waiting in line for rides, we did very little of that. We utilized
the FastPass system to perfection. FastPasses are like tickets to butt ahead
in line, only it's totally legit. If you're staying in a Disney Resort,
which we did, you can use your resort pass to get a ticket that tells you
when to come back, usually an hour or so later. Then, when you come back,
you bypass what in some cases were lines with waits of up to 170 minutes ...
no lie. We fast-passed the Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster, Terror Tower,
Soarin', Buzz LightYear and tons of other rides. It's the ONLY WAY TO GO.

Well, I'll stop babbling and end with this. Emma and Sam deserved this trip
and they were so, so good. Sam kept us in stitches with his wacky quips and
witty observations on life, and Emma never complained once about walking.
She was a phenomenol big sister and braved every ride.