WDW Trip Report - Day 1

This is my first ever trip report for Walt Disney World. I've read some other ones and mine will most likely be a little different because I'm a guy.

Wednesday - Part 1 - Travel
Jill and I got up when we used to go to bed. I was all showered up by 3am and we were in the car headed towards the airport at about 3:50am which was about 5 minutes later than we wanted to leave originally. Not too shabby. To be honest we had planned to leave at 3:30am because we were expecting freezing rain. Thankfully nature was on our side as was Iowa's snow/ice removal crews. We got to the parking lot at about 4:20am. The rain stopped just long enough for us to get the bags loaded on the shuttle and get to the airport. We took off some of the cold weather gear and checked in.

I was amazed when I saw an actual line to get through screening. This is not typical for our little airport. We grabbed some food at Kracky McGee's (yes that's what the food place is called) then proceeded to our gate for some people watching. Jill stared at this guy wearing a jacket with the president's seal on it. She thought he was sketchy but I pointed out that he has an Admiral's Club membership so he's probably mostly on the level. She worries. We got situated on the plane and were off to Dallas.

It's a short flight but we're considering flying Midwest next time since they offer a direct flight to Orlando now. It would be nice to just get all of the flying out of the way as quickly as possible.

DFW airport was like a sauna. The people watching was top notch though. We had another quiet flight to Orlando. Woo hoo.

Orlando was pretty easy this time. The Disney crowd was almost nonexistent. We got on a bus quickly and they left within minutes. I think we sat on the bus for a good half hour last time before leaving for the resort.

Wednesday - Part 2 - Resort and Animal Kingdom
We were quite pleased to get there as quickly as we did. I checked the room for bed bugs then we hit the food court for a late lunch.

Our first bus experience to Animal Kingdom was pleasant again mostly because everybody had left earlier. We were greeted at Animal Kingdom by the ambiance we love and crap load of Brazilian tour groups that are now apparently always at the parks.

We hit up Expedition Everest which is one of our favorites. I'm glad that Jill and I were fortunate enough to see the Yeti in it's animatronic glory. There was none of that this time. It doesn't move at all now and there is a strobe light that flickers a few times as you roll by. Thankfully Dinosaur still has a bunch of dinosaurs that move about and scare little children. We rode both rides twice.

We rounded out the evening by riding Primeval Whirl and being told to fuck off by a Brazilian teenager. I also bought a hat with a rolled up t-shirt in it. I just wanted the hat. The rubber band was pretty fun though. I shot Jill in the bum and she got mad at me.

Wednesday - Part 3 - Food Court and bedtime
After a good trip opener we headed back to the Pop Century food court to try "Mom's Night Out" which I think is supposed to be like a frozen dinner because mom is out whorin' it up with her bingo friends. We got a crap load of food. I ate all of mine and Jill's cornbread. I paid the price for that meal.

We slept like the dead that night. The first night for us is always rough since we have a really good bed at home. All other beds are akin to a sleeping bag on the floor. We don't get a king bed too often since most rooms we get have two queen beds. We stay in hotels a lot but they're rarely what most would consider to be classy places. As long as the sheets are clean, the AC works, and the water stays hot we're satisfied. Most people would hate a lot of the places we stay. Jill and I get excited when we find a bargain.

Stay tuned for Day 2.

I'm going to do it all over again...

Why should I have to start doing things differently because the odometer rolls over a new year? I kicked ass in 2009. Let's recap shall we?

I lost weight which for me isn't really a good thing since I've always been obnoxiously scrawny. I'm trying to hang out between 165 and 170. I hit 175 in 2008 and found myself having to try on pants again. What that means is the size of Levi's that I'd been wearing for close to ten years suddenly didn't fit. I dropped down to 160 and thanks to cooking at home I'm holding strong at a good weight for me. I don't see myself decorating my physique with muscles any time soon though. Maybe next year.

With weight out of the way I can focus on money. I plan to continue earning this year. My employer may actually come through with a raise. This didn't happen last year but I did manage to keep my job so I'm not going to complain. I'm coming up on my six year anniversary with them and I don't plan on giving up on them. With earning comes spending and while Jill and I have been somewhat thrifty we can definitely do better. Since my clothes fit I don't need to buy new clothes. If I do I'm going to stick to my new rule of only buying off the sale racks. No garment should cost more than $15. There are household projects on the things to do list but thanks to some new tools I can buy larger pieces of wood and cut them to whatever size I need rather than having to pay for small pieces. Tools kick ass. Besides that I just need food and Jill and I are getting pretty good at stocking up on vittles.

Health is a biggie for me. Jill has been on my ass to see a few doctors about my health. I feel fine for the most part but I'm still mostly out of shape and I'm due for a checkup. Once we're all done with our Disney trip I've got some appointments to schedule.

That's really it. I can't think of anything else that needs to be changed.