The Troops Arrive

Monday, December 4, 2006

Jill and I woke up Monday with one main, and very important, task in mind, at least for the morning - the marriage license! Without it, well, all bets were off! We chose to head to the Osceola County Courthouse in Kissimmee instead of the Orange County Courthouse and Clerks Office. Figuring in ten years time we are going to be residents of Osceola County, a bit of 'pre-nostalgia' factored in to our decision. So, down 192 we headed. A quick filling out of the required paperwork ensued, then the nice gentleman from the clerks office made us raise our right hands and swear, and then all was official! (well, it was actually all official once we paid the State of Florida their money, but you get the idea).

Marriage license firmly in hand, we hit a couple of stores on our way back towards Disney - a very scary Dollar Store in Kissimmee proper, and then a Super Target up 192 (which I'm sure someday will become a mainstay in our shopping regimen!).

Michael was part of the first wave of family to arrive in Orlando, as he was flying down on JetBlue with Jill's mom and dad, as well as her brother Russ and his family. Their plane was scheduled to land around noon, so after picking up some assorted 'stuff' at the two stores, we drove out to the Orlando International Airport to wait for him. We knew we wanted to get to a park during the day, and the best and quickest way for that to happen was for us to grab him from the airport instead of trying to catch up with the family somewhere else.

Figuring it was Michael's first time to Disney in quite a while, instead of Jill and I coming up with a gameplan, we decided to let Michael tell us where he wanted to go. There had been months of build up for not only the wedding, but the visit to the parks as well as Jill and I listened to all three kids talking about the trip in December, so neither of us were surprised when Michael wanted to head directly to MGM Studios - and Rock'n Roller Coaster! So, off the plane, into the car (after helping Jill's parents find a rental vehicle in the Alamo area), and back to Disney property we went.

Arriving at MGM, we went directly down Sunset Boulevard, and then took a right (stopping along the way for a PhotoPass picture), and into the back corner of the park - where the Rock'n Roller Coaster is tucked away. We were slowed a bit when we got to the ride because the wait time was list as 40 minutes. While I grabbed some fast passes (in anticipation of a long wait and wanting to optimize our time in the park), Jill realized there wasn't anyone in the que, so there was no way the wait time was that long. We headed straight into the ride and by the time we reached the actual line we were well inside of the building. Through the pre-show ("what the hey hey"), and then into the ride area we went. The line in there was a bit long, or at least long enough that we waited and were able to watch a couple of cars take off into the coaster - Jill and I were hoping that we didn't get stuck there because we didn't want it to psych Michael out, but he watched and it didn't. It gave Jill a good opportunity to give him some 'ride instructions' as well (good breathing tip). Then, it was our turn. Jill and Michael rode together, and I rode in front of them. The ride went fast (as usual), but in the end - Michael LOVED it! The kid was totally psyched when he got off that he had done it, and thought it was awesome!

With fast passes firmly in hand, we headed to the rest of the park with the intent of hitting Rock'n Roller Coaster one more time before we left. We stopped first at the Great Movie Ride. After waiting in the que for a bit, we entered the ride and found ourselves sitting in the second row - directly behind the driver! For anyone that has been on the ride, you know what that meant. Sure enough, when the gangster took over the vehicle there we were right behind him - prime targets for being 'part of the show'. He kept trying to talk to Michael, but Mike really wasn't interested in chatting. If that wasn't bad enough, the ride stopped just as we were going through the 'Aliens' part, with the alien directly overhead! Not cool, but it was kind of funny to watch the gangster ad lib.

After (finally) finishing the Great Movie Ride, we walked around to the back of the park and grabbed lunch at the Studio Catering Company before heading over to see MuppetVision 3D and Star Tours. Satisfied that we had seen everything we wanted to at this point, we walked back to Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and rode one more time. This time around, Michael rode with me and Jill rode in the backseat of the same car.

We left MGM and decided to stop at Port Orleans to change clothes before heading to Epcot for the evening. As would be the case for most of the trip, the temperature had begun to drop and the shorts and t-shirts we had on needed to be exchanged for a pair of jeans and sweatshirts.

Total Mileage: 3095 Miles

Total Miles Travelled:
127,568 Miles!