Laser Fun

I took Terry on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin because I knew he would like it (shooting things with lasers, targets, movable seats, video game inspirations...duh). Turns out, we both got a little intense while on the ride:

Aaaaaaaand I'm horrible at this game...My score on the left, Terry's on the right.

What I'm much better at is Frontierland Shootin' Arcade. You shoot a laser rifle at over 100 targets and they light up and animate when you hit them. We paid one dollar each for 35 shots which doesn't seem like very many, but the gun is so heavy that 35 shots is plenty. I can actually hit things here.

Go Away, No One Likes You

The Love Bug. No, not the cute car Herbie, the actual bug. Story has it that the University of Florida tried to modify some genetics in their quest to find a good bug to eat mosquitos. Somewhere along the line there, they escaped and overpopulated every area in the south east United States. Not only do they not do anything (no pollination, no mosquito eating...insectivores don't even like to eat them because they taste horrible) but they are one of the biggest nuisances I've come across in my life. I actually think that their sole purpose might be to fly for your face while you walk past them.

They hang around for about 5 weeks in late August and September en mass. They are attracted to light colored surfaces and fresh paint. Carpenters and painters often refuse to work during this time because the bugs will just ruin all of their jobs by getting stuck in fresh paint and construction work.

There is one reason in particular though, why I hate them so much:

"Lovebugs are a considerable nuisance to motorists. They congregate in unbelievable numbers along highways and the insects spatter on the windshields and grills of moving trucks and automobiles. Windshields become covered with the fatty remains, and vision is obscured. During flights, the flies clog radiator fins causing cars to overheat. They also get into refrigeration equipment on trucks causing them to malfunction. The fatty tissue will cause pitting of the car's finish if it is not removed within a few days."

That's right, you can't even get gratification from killing them with your car. Their dead bodies eat holes into it. During my research, I did add one more reason why armadillos are one of the coolest/most awkward animals on the planet:

"Although examinations of the stomach contents of armadillos have been negative, observations suggest that they, too, may be excellent predators of the love bug larvae."

This is our apartment porch today - which I cleaned yesterday free of them, both dead and alive.

This is a photo that I found of a Disney bus stop in 2006, to show just how bad it can get.

A Sign Of Sorts

While roaming around the parks, Terry and I started to really examine some of the signage at Disney. We analyzed them as if there weren't any descriptions, which made it fun. Our favorites are as follows:

1. Pay attention to the bottom set of drawings. We came up with: no sitting with rigid arms and then standing abruptly in a humping motion. Or, more simply, no humping.

2. Also: For your safety, no awkward dancing.

A Tale of Teacups

I've never been on the spinning teacups in Fantasyland because I'm notorious for getting motion sick. It's been getting better over the past few years (I can do a lot of roller coasters without trouble now), but the teacups always make me barf just watching them spin. I was completely content never going on that ride in my life until Terry wouldn't take no for an answer. At least we got some good fun out of it.

Terry went all out and spun us as fast as he could, which turned out to be a horrible idea. We both got off the ride with a stagger and agreed that we probably shouldn't do that in the future. You can see from the pictures taken from Point A (the beginning of the ride: happy faces, joking poses, smiles) to Point B (the end of the ride: gonna vom expressions) exactly how it turned out for us.

Disney in September Take 2

We went to Hollywood Studios tonight and the Tower of Terror was also empty. Boo-ya! I'm surprised that I can hold this pose before dropping 13 stories.

Disney in September

Terry came to visit at the best time of the year. All the kids are back at school and all the adults are back at work after Labor Day. We walk directly on all of the rides without fail. We've been spoiled and scoff at 20 minute waits now. But Splash Mountain is fun when it's just us.

For Dad

We are close enough to Atlanta (the HQ of Coca Cola) that everything Coke here tastes fantastic. Even the fountain sodas that you buy taste like they came out of a glass bottle. If I could send anything home for Christmas for my dad, it would be this giant cooler full of Coke in a bottle. We have to search high and low for this in Washington and usually only the holiday version is available around Christmas. But here, cool Coke products are everywhere. I found this in the Super Target that I shop in. Why is it so easy when I can't send it home??

Surprise!

I was walking to work today from my car to The Seas (about a mile) in the dark when I heard a suspicious rustling in the bushes next to Test Track. What do I see when I look over?

An armadillo! I haven't seen a live one since I've been living here, only roadkill ones. I lured him from the bushes with my ridiculous good looks so that he could pose for a semi blurry picture. They are fast!

Typhoon Lagoon

Disney World has two waterparks in addition to the regular parks, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. I wasn't able to go for a long time because cast members couldn't go for free during the summer (blackout dates). Once the middle of August passed the blackout was lifted. Hurrah! I decided to take Terry to Typhoon Lagoon the day after he got here. For a second, we couldn't decide between the two options, but Typhoon won out because of the famed wave pool. We had no idea what we got ourselves into. Obviously I didn't bring my camera because everything is wet, but I did find a great video of exactly what you experience when they send a giant wave your way.

Animal Planet

To finally close out the visit from my family, we ended their trip with fun times in Animal Kingdom. We posed by awkward dinosaurs:

Looked at cool artifacts:

Went on the safari a few times (they have animals to look at while you wait in line):

And we concluded the night with a bird show. It was called Flights of Wonder and I've always wanted to see it. The show itself is focused around birds of prey and then the trainers teach you a little bit about conservation and how they train the birds. Of course, my dad wasn't the fondest of the idea, but by the middle of the show he admitted he was having fun. One of my favorite parts was when the trainers had an owl grab a dollar out of a man's hand in the audience and then return it.

Guess Who's Visiting...

Today!