Time to buckle down and get this written before I forget everything. This was an unexpected and very unusual trip for me. You all know that I'm a long-time single park stormer. I've enjoyed the occasional day with other co-workers when I've been in town working at a convention. But for vacations I always do it solo - not really out of choice, but out of necessity, being a single guy. But that changed with an email in December from my cousin Steve.
A few words about Steve - he's a recently retired Episcopalian priest. He comes from a family of 4 kids - I come from a family of 4 kids. His mom and my mom were sisters, while his dad and my dad were best buds in the army even before they got married. Needless to say, our families were very close growing up. In fact, my first visit ever to DL back in 1963 was a combined Young-Powers day. I've been lucky to spend a few minutes with Steve at family reunions over the past few summers, but other than that we've pretty much drifted apart. Steve just went through successful cancer surgery, but his health and recovery schedule forced his early retirement. He's been living in Virginia, but is now planning to move back to SoCal to be closer to family. He decided that it would be a good time to storm WDW before moving, and guess who he contacted as the family's resident WDW expert? Yup, I was the designated tour guide, and I was really looking forward to it, both for time in WDW and to get to know the adult version of the cousin I grew up with.
My flight from Dallas was uneventful - I had the entire row to myself! Steve drove down to Florida, so he picked me up at the airport in his trusty Audi (whom I learned was named Kristof the Swift!). He was staying at a Hilton Vacation Club property, where our rooms had a terrific view of the Contemporary Resort and Bay Lake Tower -
A quick unpacking and it was off to Epcot for the rest of the day.
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Fun With the Cuz - a WDW Trip Report 1-16
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