"We're going to Disney World!"
And that (plus the other story that will be posted in a bit) was how we wound up in Orlando yet again this year.
Yes, Disney World. Twice in one year. But we had some days left on the passes we bought back in February and is there any better place on Earth to celebrate? Especially when you have two little girls who miss their daddy something fierce and WDW is smack dab in your home state?
We took off for Florida last Wednesday for a five day trip. When we landed and got settled in our hotel, though tired, we put the jet lag to good use! The girls and I headed for Downtown Disney and to one of their handpicked activities - Disney Quest!!!
Holly was tall enough to ride Cyber Space Mountain, so off she went to design her own roller coaster. Sarah sat on the sidelines and a Cast Member kept a good eye on her while I rode with Holly (seriously, how good is Disney?). We then spent some time running around. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. No lines, no waiting to play games, and a whole BUNCH of fun! We stayed and played until they kicked us out at closing time.
Early Thursday morning, we headed for the Magic Kingdom. It was POURING down rain because of a tropical depression that had popped up -- yes, Holly's in town so there has to be some sort of tropical disturbance. But, with coffee in hand and ponchos on, we made our way through the park. And straight for Space Mountain!
Now, Sarah has a love hate relationship with Space Mountain. But we had such a great time on Big Thunder Mountain railroad in February that she wanted to give it another try. And she went "Weeeeeeeee" the whole way!!!! As soon as we got off, she wanted to go again-Again-AGAIN! Oh, my heart was so glad -- we are a roller coaster family now!
After we had our third ride on the roller coaster, I dragged the girls to the new Fantasyland so we could get to Belle's Enchanted Tales. What a great attraction! Perfect for kids who love to reenact their favorite stories. And guess who got to be IN the show? That would be me... Somehow my volunteering my girls grabbed Belle's attention, who pulled me up there to be a dish for the Be Our Guest number. Too funny! We spent the rest of the morning bumming around the Magic Kingdom and hitting the highlights.
Once we grabbed lunch, we headed for Hollywood Studios to ride the Tower of Terror. While we were in line it absolutely POURED down rain. If you've ever been in Florida in the summer, you know the kind of rain I'm talking about. I seriously was standing in puddles that reached my ankles. I could only be thankful that the girls listened to me and wore their Crocs. Once off the ride, my sister called and said they were there!!! We met up with them and went to Star Tours and the Beauty and the Beast show. Then it was time for cousin camp with Auntie. We headed back to the hotel and swam in the Mickey pool, got some ice cream, and watched a movie.
Again, early the next morning, we got up and headed for Epcot! If I've learned anything, it's to get up and go so you can get Fast Passes for your favorite attractions. This time we were going for Soarin' and Test Track. But the girls were so good getting up and out of the room -- of course, the promise of doughnuts may have had something to do with it.
We got to ride the two big rides at Epcot and got out of there before lunch to meet up with Erica and Laurelei at Animal Kingdom. We also got the call that Grammy and Papa had finally made it to Orlando -- we made plans to meet up with them at Epcot for dinner. We spent the rest of the afternoon at Animal Kingdom and watched the Finding Nemo stage show. Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to the girls and Erica.
Before we headed to Epcot for the night, we stopped in at the Magic Kingdom. Word on the street was that Marie from Aristocats had been hanging out there. Unfortunately, we missed her for the day. But the outcome, well that's also another story....
The girls and I cleaned up and headed to Epcot for our evening with the Olivers. We had a lovely dinner at the Seasons -- if you've never eaten there, it's a real treat! They use fresh vegetables that are grown in the garden out back. Then we strolled around until the fireworks. It was just a real nice night altogether.
Saturday morning was my graduation and a nice lunch with my parents and the Olivers. But we had to hustle to get to the park. We had one more park pass to use and had a date with destiny!!!!
Yes, that is Marie!!! We got one more day so we could see her. The back story on this is coming soon..... It is so good that it deserves its own post.
After we all loved on Marie, talked with our friend, Matthew, we headed to ride some rides as a last hurrah. We got my parents on Space Mountain with us a few times, rode the teacups, and generally just had a great time. And that's even with the torrential downpours (and tornado warnings) that the tropical storm brought. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to our hotel and get packed up to go home.
