The day-by-day play-by-play

Day 1 - Block Party
Day 2 - Kennewick, Man
Day 3 - Loafing
Day 4 - Watering the Dogs
Day 5 - In Flight
Day 6 - Epcot
Day 7 - Get in Line
Day 8 - MGM Disney
Day 9 - At Rest
Day 10 - Not George, Anheuser
Day 11 - In Flight (reprise)
Day 12 - In Sanity
Day 12.5 - In Sickness
Day 15 - On the Road
Day 16 - Oregon Caves
Day 17 - Sam Clam's Disco
Day 18 - Dead Man Walking
Day 19 - Will He Hurl?
Day 20 - Traveling
Day 21 - Six Flags, Long Lines
Day 22 - Tied Up in Knott's
Day 23 - Something Goofy
Day 24 - Sacra-Mentos
Day 25 - Ashland
Day 26 - 10,000 Smiles
Day 27 - At the Movies
Day 28 - Dream Homes

Sabbatical 1998 - Day 7

Get in Line

Space MountainWe visited Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom which is sometimes called "Disneyland East" because it is based closely upon the original park in California.  The lines were extremely long for all of the attractions and, to make matters a bit worse, it was sprinkling.  Now as a northwesterner, I know about rain and showers and sprinkles.  Just as Eskimos are rumored to have many words for snow, we have many words for rain -- some of those words aren't for publication.   TT and I smiled at the other tourists who rushed to don their silly yellow rain slickers at the first indication of precipitation.  We walked through it without a thought. 

Because the lines were so long, we... or I should say I became quite selective as to which attractions I would visit.  (You see, TT has serious equilibrium problems and simply can't handle anything that spins, twirls or otherwise disorients a rider.)  I headed for the mountains: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and The Thunder Mountain Railroad.  TT checked out the shops.

For those of you keeping score, I rode Space Mountain four times, Splash Mountain three times and Thunder Mountain four times.  With lines 40 to 90 minutes in length, that was about all I could manage.

Express elevator to h e double toothpicksThose of you who know me well know that I love extreme (just like extreme computing) amusement park rides.   Unlike my partner, I seek out anything that will flip me over, spin me end-over-end or otherwise mess with my inner ear.  I think the picture at the right pretty much captures the spirit of Splash Mountain.  The drop is something like 50 feet with an incline of maybe 30 degrees off of vertical.  All I know is that at the end of the drop, I completely forgot about the wait in line and couldn't contain the desire to queue up again.

I didn't take any pictures from Space Mountain because, for one, flash photography would have ruined the effect and, for another, I don't think I would be able to hold a camera whilst being whipped around in there.  What a rush!   In my opinion, the Disneyland version of this ride is slightly better because each car has an independent sound system that plays music timed to the visual elements as your car passes.   But hey, I still give the ride a Hurl Factor 4.

Tania rides the GondolaTT surprised me quite a lot by asking if we could ride on the Sky Car (gondola) together.  She wanted to go on a ride?  Before she could change her mind, we got in line.  I snapped this picture of her as we left the station.   She looks pretty happy!  She said that the gondola motion was similar to that of a ski lift and, if she kept looking forward, she wouldn't get queasy.  Given that I was sitting directly across from her, I had a vested interest in her gastric well-being.   Happily, we arrived at the other end of the line with a clean car.  Hugs ensued.

More fun tomorrow.