Disney and the need for more appendages
I suspect many people have mixed feelings about going to Disney World. On one hand, it's a juggernaut of marketing and advertising that is blasted at small wide-eyed children. On the other hand, many of us went as small wide-eyed children and enjoyed it immensely. On the other hand (or maybe, foot) it is a mind-blowingly large and well run operation that fascinates me to no end. On the other foot, as Eric(s) said, "if you ate here for two weeks straight, you'd die".
On another appendage (earlobe?) it's annoying to go as an adult. The lines are long, the kids are screamy and sticky, and there is no beer in the Magic Kingdom.
On a final appendage (mutant third arm) going there with small children you like can be pleasant and fun.
Thanks to Mom & Dad
My parents suggested a little family get together at the Magic Kingdom. We lucked out because my sister-in-law took over all the planning and reservations and set us up with a nice room at the new tower at the Contemporary Hotel, tons of meals (including the princess breakfast at the castle), and those passes that let you go to any old park whenever you want to.
It was fun. But, tiring. And probably fattening.
Quick Observations
Have you ever noticed that there is no air traffic over Disney World? Apart from the fifty or so monster buzzards that hung out near our hotel (keep an eye on the small kids) there were no helicopters, planes, or rogue homemade hot-air balloon aircraft to be seen.
The monorails have aged nicely - they still look space-age and awesome.
Also, you assume that security there is pretty healthy and you also assume that there are cameras everywhere - but I challenge you to find more than one. The only camera we found was near the Hall of Presidents and was hidden inside a bell tower.
Lastly, kudos to their sound engineers. Even though their parades are annoying and cheesey (so many parades), they sound really good and they have done a great job of masking all the speakers by hiding them in lightposts, etc.
Highlights My nephew is a huge Star Wars fan even though he is only 4yrs old and is probably more in love with the old Star Wars action figures he found at my parents house than the actual movies. Mrs. Robot, my brother, and robot nephew rode the Star Wars ride together that is at the Hollywood Disney park place. It was fun - one of those "the room moves around and makes you feel like you are flying" types of ride. Robot-nephew loved it.
After the ride, you are funneled into the gift shop (D'oh!) but that was fun as well as he got to build his own lightsaber. Pretty pretty pretty sweet.
We spent a lot of time in the park at night. One night it was open until 1am and my brother, his wife, and the kids all went back over at 10pm to ride more stuff. We took robot-nephew on the Gran Prix ride (where he made car noises with his mouth even though the car made actual car-ish noises) and he rode his first roller coaster. Hanging out with little kids at 1am at Disney can be fun.
Oh, and finally, the whole family rode the Haunted Mansion ride. This is a classic robot family favorite. Our first trip to Disney, we all went on this ride. Robot brother was probably 4 or 5 and got scared even before we got on the ride and my dad had to flag a Disney person and they took him outside (but they got to see some of the behind-the-scenes Disney stuff). His kids were excited about the ride and we mentioned to them that their father had been scared when he first rode it and they quickly assured their dad that the ghosts weren't real. It was cute.
"Dad, they aren't real ghosts. Don't be scared."
Fun. The kids were super excited about seeing the ghosts everywhere.
Food & Wine The Epcot Food & Wine festival was happening while we were there and Mrs. Robot and I snuck out one night and drank some NY state Rieslings and sipped some Moet while we watched the nightly fireworks. We got there too late to try the tacos from the taco booth.
*sigh*
Friends
Lastly, fellow robot'er Eric(s) was there with his family as well as a good chum from work.
Crazy!