Today I added a Entering Indoor Speed Only Zone sign to the front door. I was prompted to do so due to a Mik Tornado incident on Wednesday. When I came home from bowling, I found the Great Room pretty much entirely rearranged and Mik left his power chair in full speed outdoor mode.
Apparently, Mik just wanted the remotes for the television. They were not where they normally are, but they were still easy for him to grab from the desk in the office. He did eventually locate them, but not after running into a lot of stuff and moving it around the room.
He moved the couch from the center of the room to almost against the wall, which included moving his walker that was behind the couch. He moved the glass table to be crooked. He moved a chair away from that table. He moved the desk in the office to be crooked. He moved the rug. Lastly, he somehow moved the beanbag footstool all the way across the room.
Amazingly after 8 months of having the chair he has never done anything other than slightly move the couch and desk and make a little hole in his bathroom door. Then in one hour of coming home from school last Wednesday he did like three times all that put together. Interestingly, though, he did pick up one of his pairs of shoes and put them on a chair while he was "arranging" the great room.
The occasional moving things around with his power chair does not bother me, but he was totally out of control driving in what we call speedy speedy mode when I have told him several times to use indoor speed in the house. The furniture is all way more than adequately out of the way for him to have navigated around and got what he needed/wanted without having to move any of it, although I can understand him bumping into the desk and moving it a few inches. The problem was he moved things feet, which meant he did not just stop when he bumped it and/or he was zooming around like crazy. Now I have a firm Indoor Speed Only Zone sign and he better not go crazy in outdoor mode again.
Yesterday, Dad and I went to Fort Bowie National Historic Site. I had been wanting to specifically go on July 28, 2012 for months because it was the 150th Anniversary of the Fort and getting the National Park stamp on that day counted to get a special 150th Civil War Anniversary certificate with the National Park Travelers Club. Unlike usual, I totally winged it and all I looked up was the address of where the park stamp is located (the visitor's center).
We arrive and it is just a parking lot and you have to hike a mile and a half to get to the fort and visitor center. Not that big of a deal normally, but it is July and it was already hot at 10 a.m. and it was only likely to get hotter. Plus, we brought no water, no food, and I was wearing new shoes. Despite seriously considering giving up on it, we trekked on.
The hike was not really that bad, but it was hot. Of course, we get there and there are at least ten other visitors that certainly did not hike in, as we were the only ones in the parking lot. Yes, we did see there was a number to call to find out how to access it if you cannot walk the trail, but we took it seriously as something not to abuse. Apparently, they do not really care, although you do not get the real experience if you do not do the trail and see the sites that relate to and really lead up to the creation of the fort. It was worth it overall, but I would have rather just drove up and got the stamp for the day and come back in the fall or spring when the weather is nicer to really experience the site.
Yesterday, I was walking along Michigan Ave in Chicago to go to Best Buy and get some headphones because I did not bring any on the road trip and wanted some for listening to my iPod on the flight home today. My plan was just to hit the stores with Shopkicks on the way. I skipped the Disney Store on the way there, but I could not resist going in on the way back.
Of course, once there I could not pass up the fun Windy City Chicago Vinylmation guy. Also, I found a fun one with little Mickey's representing flags of the world. Lastly, I finally got a Cubs Vinylmation. I really want a Nationals one, but alas they do not make one (maybe, they will if the Nats keep being awesome!). I do not want the Cubs one in my ledge collection at home, but I could not resist getting it for Mom's apartment because it was perfect for the TV room that has Wrigley Field and other Cubs decor. I certainly did not need 3 Vinylmation, but once I was in there and they had Chicago ones and the newer flag one I just could not resist. At least I did resist the fun scented ones.
Yesterday, I harvested the first watermelon from our garden. It seemed ready to pick, as it looked right, sounded right, and seemed to have stopped growing for the past week. Well, it ended up being pink inside and not quite ripe. It did at least still taste a little like a watermelon and was not bitter, but it also was not sweet at all. Oh well, we still have almost ten at various stages of growing, so maybe I will figure out when they are ready for at least one of them.
I finally have a few Vinylmation figures. When I first saw them in Disney stores last year, I did not really like them much less want any other than I did actually buy one at the D23 Expo last year, but that was mostly because it came with a pin I liked. However, ever since I moved into the Master Bedroom and made it themed Disney I have wanted to get some Vinylmation to put on the ledge.
The collection started with the ice Vinylmation that I only got because I wanted the ice cube mold it came with. It was not really a collection, though, until I got some more in Disney World earlier this month. Now I also have a big red light one, a 2012 one, and a Norway flag one. Eventually, it would be cool to have them all across the ledge, but I am being pretty picky on the ones I get and the only ones out now I do not have that I want are ones that I am probably going to have to get on eBay because they are old like the bowling one and/or come in mystery box sets.
After getting back from Walt Disney World late Wednesday night (a whole day early actually!), Dad and I went to Disneyland on Saturday and Sunday. We were supposed to end up home a whole week between going places, but I could not pass up buying the Cars Land preview tickets. It ended up being totally worth it, although we did not get the private World of Color show as expected.
Saturday we finally got to Disneyland around 7 p.m., as we left Tucson later than planned, stopped quickly at Joshua Tree National Park for a stamp for my national park passport, and made a few stops at stores for Shopkick walk-ins along the way, too. I got my new annual pass, since mine and Mik's expired in Disney World. This year we are just getting Disneyland premium ones, as we are not planning to do Disney World again at least until Christmas 2013 or later. Dad's premier pass is good until April, since I only just got his when we did Disneyland in April and knew we had a Disney World and at least one Disneyland trip coming up.
Saturday night Dad and I went into Disneyland for a few hours. We enjoyed dinner at my new favorite, the Jolly Holiday Cafe, and went on Buzz Lightyear and Haunted Mansion before escaping before the Fantasmic and fireworks exit crowd.
Sunday we got a late start not getting to the parks until noon, but that was okay since the event was 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. and we knew we would likely stay for the whole event. Plus, we thought World of Color was supposed to show after the event and thus it would be a until midnight at the park night.
The first thing we did was picked up our cool Cars Land wristbands. We then headed into Disneyland to do some rides. We ended up just doing a few Fantasyland rides (Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, and Mr. Toad). Also, discovered the salmon salad at the Harbour Galley by the Rivers of America.
After lunch we headed over to California Adventure to check out the new Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and ride Toy Story Mania. It was fun to get a free chocolate square and while frozen white chocolate mocha is not cheap it was tasty and refreshing on the sunny day. When we go back for Mik's birthday in a few weeks, I am going to try the Gold Rush sundae (peanut butter sundae), as that looks awesome and I did not notice it until after I ordered my mocha and I was still full from lunch anyways.
After a ride on Toy Story Mania, it was around 5 p.m. and while our preview time was not supposed to start until 6 p.m. we decided to go line up anyways. The line was already all the way across the Pacific Wharf and starting to wrap up towards the other bridge. Good thing we lined up early, though, as by 5:20 p.m. they started letting us in and we were actually on Radiator Springs Racers for our first time by 6 p.m.
Radiator Springs Racers is an awesome ride and made it totally worth going for the preview. The first thing I liked about it was the Amazing Oil Bottle House part of the queue, which has colorful oil bottles in the walls. The coolest thing, though, is there are some glass insulators up on the top shelf inside. It totally gave us some ideas of things to do with the ~600 glass insulators I have sitting in storage.
Of course, the Radiator Springs Racers ride itself was a lot of fun, too. You go through Radiator Springs and before getting ready for the big race. For the race, we ended up going through a spray paint area, which is made to light up and look like it is spray painting the color of the car you are in, so it changes depending on the color car you are in. At first I thought this was the only pre race preparation, but we later learned there was a tire changing thing for the left side car. Once both cars are ready, you race each other and it random which side will win.
After our first ride on Radiator Springs Racers, we headed over to Luigi's Flying Tires. This is a rather odd ride where you get in a giant tire vehicle and air makes them float. You shift your weight to control it to basically do bumper tires. There are also giant beach balls to pick up and throw around if you want. An interesting ride, but not all that exciting.
Before going on the third ride in Cars Land, we strolled through the shops and I only picked up one thing (a Cars Land antenna topper). I also got some pretzel bites at the Frozen Cone-Coctions cone at the Cozy Cone Motel. They were good, but I was annoyed that the cone places do not give the annual pass dining discounts.
The final ride in Cars Land is Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. It is a wacky tractor ride. The tractors go in circles and switch tracks as you go around making the cart swing side to side. It is really hard to describe, but it is crazy and fun and the video I did while riding is below.
After trying out all the rides, we went back to Radiator Springs Racers and rode it again and again with one short break to take photos of Cars Land lit up at night until our final ride ended about 10:45 p.m. By the end the wait was pretty much nothing, so we got in at least 7 rides on Radiator Springs Racers (yes, more rides on one ride in one evening than I did the whole six days at Disney World!), which is awesome considering they are expecting 5 hour wait times when it opens. I totally plan to fastpass and ride when we go for Mik's birthday, but we are not waiting that long for it.
We could have kept going until 11 p.m., but we thought there was a World of Color showing. We headed over there and found out they canceled that a week ago and instead we were supposed to get fastpasses to the 10:15 p.m. show. I am kind of annoyed I paid $25 extra for a private show that did not happen, especially since no one told us about the early time because we did not get the fastpasses at check in. However, we did go to guest services and I can pick up two fastpasses for the blue section first show any of the dates we are going to be at Disneyland in a few weeks for Mik's birthday. Not sure I will use them, though, as we already are doing the dining package at Carthay Circle for his birthday. The preview was still totally worth it and not going to the 10:15 p.m. show ended up making the lines shorter at Radiator Springs Racers, but I could have gotten in a few more rides if I knew there was no show (I would not have gone at 10:15 p.m. if I had known because it was the public show, which is nothing special like a private viewing might have been).
Believe it or not, this year I spent way more time in the parks than our trip last and not just because we decided to skip trying to do Harry Potter at Universal and spend an extra day at Disney World. Last year, Mik and I would spend the morning in the parks and do a few things and then I would go back for evening hours including doing a lot of Magic Kingdom rides until 1 a.m. on day. This year, though, I seriously only went on 4 rides.
The first night Dad and I quickly went to Hollywood Studios and did Toy Story Mania (ride #1). The next day we only got to Epcot and did not do any rides there. The next day we went to the Magic Kingdom and I got hooked on Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom and did that all day besides when we had lunch in the castle (Dad took Mik back to hotel after lunch and quested the rest of the day with me).
The next day I also mostly just did Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, but I also went on Snow White's Scary Adventures (ride #2). I could not pass up riding that on its last day even though it still will be at Disneyland.
The following day we again went to Hollywood Studios and this time it was Star Wars weekend, so not only did we go on Toy Story Mania, but also Star Tours (ride #3). Then, I spent the rest of the day doing Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom some more.
The next day was another day of mostly Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, but I did go to Disney Quest and I guess those may count as some rides over the 4. Also, I quit around 7 p.m. and finally went mini golfing at Fantasia Gardens, which is something I have wanted to do in 2007 and 2011 and did not get around to. Plus, at this point Dad had traded all our extras and we had a complete set of spell cards or at least we thought so. This was supposed to be our final day at Disney World, as Mik and my Premier Passes expired that day. However, we still had a full day and night in Orlando before leaving since we originally were going to do Harry Potter world, but decided it was not worth it.
Thus I spent one more final day doing Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, as I got a one day one park ticket while Mik decided to use his Universal money to go to a fork and dine movie with Dad. I almost quested for the whole day because that morning we realized somehow we never got the Wall-e card and I kind of wanted to get it. Plus, it is just so much fun, although a lot of walking and standing. I finally ended up quitting around 8 p.m., but not before I traded for a Wall-E and an extra Simba (the one card Mik wanted besides the Grumpy he got from his first pack). Oh, and I actually did fit in a ride on Winnie the Pooh (ride #4) on the last day. I kind of considered hanging at the park until it closed at 2 a.m. for rides (Sorcerers closes for turning in quest at 10 p.m. that day) when I started the day, but my feet were really hurting by the time I quit the questing. Instead, though, I challenged Dad to two more rounds of mini golf.
So, yeah, I really only went on 4 different rides the whole trip, but it was the first time I really enjoyed Disney World. All the other times it is has been like this is not anywhere near as good as Disneyland because most of what we like is also there and you do not have to take forever going between the parks to do the stuff. This time, though, it did not seem so bad because I mostly just wanted to go to one park and the lines at the portals were rarely like waiting in line for a ride.
Going into this trip, I had no plans to go back to Disney World for a long time, but I sure am going to be keeping tabs on if they expand the game, especially if they release new cards, and that would definitely get me thinking about planning another visit. Now if it just came to Disneyland that would be dangerous, as I already end up with enough random trips there considering we are going this weekend because I was able to get Cars Land preview tickets as we were driving to Florida. And, yeah, we are also still going there later this month for Mik's 18th. I guess having those Disney trips coming up kind of contributed to not riding at Disney World because I figure I can do all the rides then, as the main ones I like are also there.
