It's about time for the Disney blog report, ay? I mean, I mentioned it enough times leading up to the trip. The trip was so great...all the things a Disney trip should be...leaving you exhausted when you return home and have to go back to work. Sorry for no pictures in this post...my mom took a ton of pictures, but I haven't actually seen any of them yet!
The trip got off to a little bit of a rough start. We were scheduled to take the red eye out Friday evening. Brian and I were flying stand by, but we weren't too concerned about the flight going out. There were still something like 20 seats available the day before. And then 10 seats available the day of (and I guess the airlines figure something like 4% of the plane travelers don't show up)...so we were feeling okay about it. Well, since we aren't airline employees, we kept getting moved down the stand by list...we were the last two on the list (number 11 and 12)...feeling a tad nervous, but still not really thinking we wouldn't make it. We didn't make it. We were the only two that didn't...everyone else on the stand by list got on the flight. So...at this point, the airline rebooked us onto the 8am flight the next day...which was actually overbooked- not looking good that we would make it. Meanwhile my mom and Ron were on the flight (they actually bought their tickets)...my mom sobbing that my trip was ruined...the poor man sitting next to her on that flight.
We had to make our way back through the airport, heads hung, without our luggage (on its way to Orlando)onto the train back into Seattle. I have to say, I was suuuuper proud of us...we handled it like champs. Made a plan for the next day, revised the trip itinerary a little bit, and just rolled with it. Brian's dad woke up bright and early to get us to the airport by 6am Saturday morning. We didn't have a lot of hope for getting on the flight...with 10 minutes before take off there were still two people that hadn't arrived...so we made it on. I had never been more excited to get on a plane...we were high-fiving people, and we even ended up getting to sit together right up near the front. Couldn't have been a better situation...
We made it to Orlando, hopped on the Magical Express (the bus that picks you up at the airport and takes you right to your Disney resort), and met my parents- who spent the day at one of the parks, exhausted from their red eye flight. Our luggage was already waiting for us in the room...we quickly changed and headed out to Hollywood Studios for dinner at the 50's Prime Time Cafe (eat all your vegetables and keep your elbows off the table!), and my favorite nighttime show- Fantasmic. Brian said he likes the Fantasmic at Disneyland better...at the Studios, they have a whole arena area with benches and seating set up...it is a space used only for the Fantasmic show...he likes how you have to sit on the ground at Disneyland...that you were able to go over to Tom Sawyer's Island earlier that day...that it all feels more authentic at Disneyland. I agree with that...but I do appreciate not having to sit on the ground an hour ahead of time waiting for the show!
Next day was Magic Kingdom. Nice and early...there really is no sleeping in at Disney...the early morning is the best time to be there! We did all the classic rides...sadly, Big Thunder Mountain was down for refurbishment...luckily I did know that ahead of time, otherwise that could have been more disappointing than the missed flight! We took the ferry boat over to the Grand Floridian for dinner at Narcoossees. SUCH a delicious meal- we did the Disney Dining Plan, so pretty much all of our meals were paid for ahead of time, which was awesome and meant that we didn't have to look at prices on the menus! And then my mom and Ron surprised me for my birthday with a fireworks cruise...which meant we went out on our own little boat (with a driver, who was a college program kid in his last week) on the lagoon next to Magic Kingdom and watch the fireworks, with the music piped in and everything. It was such a cool experience, and so cool that my parents found something new that we hadn't done before! My parents went back to the hotel after the fireworks cruise, but Brian and I headed back to the park to close it down...we hadn't made it on to Peter Pan earlier in the day, and you can't miss Peter Pan!
Next day was EPCOT...the Flower and Garden Show was going on while we were there, so there tons of lovely flower displays and trees trimmed and colored to look like characters. After having such a late night at Magic Kingdom and the heat, we really weren't feeling the drink around the world showcase...we still stopped in each country of course...and did the ride (Mexico and Norway), and took pictures with the various hats of each country...but we pretty much downed water. We had dinner reservations at Rose & Crown (in the UK) because that is the only restaurant on the water. We were able to sit and enjoy our desserts while we watched Illuminations (the EPCOT night time show).
We finally got to sleep in a bit on Tuesday (my actual birthday!) because that was our water park day. We went to Typhoon Lagoon...did the slides- Crush N Gusher, Gang Plank Falls, Mayday Falls, we snorkeled in ice cold water with the sharks, we rode the waves in the giant wave pool (I actually just run from those waves...no riding for me- they are terrifying!), lounged in the lazy river...super fun day. Then we went back to the hotel to change for dinner at the Pointe Orlando Tommy Bahama. My long time Disney friend Michael joined us for dinner at Tommy. The whole meal was such a treat...the Tommy Bahama restaurant experience is always amazing. We had about two too many desserts though!
When we returned to the hotel that night, we had a surprise in our room- my good pal Jessica (my roommate in Chicago) had left Brian and I a park hopper each! We had purchased park passes that only let us visit one park a day, so we had to make sure we got everything done in the one day...that's a lot of pressure, so this park hopper was such a cool surprise and allowed us to go back to parks we had been to but missed seeing certain things.
Wednesday was Animal Kingdom day. Ron wasn't feeling awesome, so he stayed at the hotel for the morning. We did the safari and saw all kinds of animals...all of the regulars- the giraffes and elephants and okapi (only relative of the giraffe)- we also saw rhinos, hippos, a cheetah, and two lions- that were standing and walking around...and looking hungry. Every time I have ever seen the lions, they are always lazy sleepers. I was waiting for them to attack our jeep at any moment, which really added a whole new level of thrill to the safari. Woot! And Expedition Everest! Such a fun roller coaster...LOVE that one. My mom went back to the hotel to meet up with Ron, and Brian and I meandered around the park a bit longer, exploring. Since we had the park hopper, we went back to EPCOT...to see a few things we had missed previously- Club Cool...with the different sodas from around the world, and to ride Spaceship Earth (the giant ball that is the symbol of EPCOT). We met back up with my mom and Ron there, and then headed to Magic Kingdom to take in the firework show from inside the park. They are doing this cool thing prior to the actual fireworks, where they laser pictures of guests- that were taken THAT day in the park- up onto the castle...pretty cool.
And then, somehow, we were at our last day. We were planning to spend most of the day at Hollywood Studios, but then realized we hadn't been to Downtown Disney at all, and hadn't done any souvenir shopping. So we hustled to the park when it opened (of course), rode a few things...we really missed out on so much at this park, unfortunately. We had lunch at the Sci-Fi Diner (like a drive in theater- sitting in cars watching old sci fi movies...really cute), and then booked it to Downtown Disney. We split up to get the shopping we each needed completed, grabbed a few sandwiches for the plane, and then back to our hotel to catch the Magical Express back to the airport.
Sigh....it is always so hard to leave Disney. It has gotten better...I mean, I know now that there will be another Disney trip at some point (when I was younger, I very nearly cried every time we had to leave because I never knew when we would go back)....
Once again we were flying stand by, and this flight was fully booked. I wasn't as concerned about making this flight though...I mean, another day in Disney...not such a bad thing. BUT, we were the only ones on the stand by list, and sure enough, two people didn't show up, so we made the flight and made our way back to Seattle. The nice thing was we flew back on a Thursday night and had taken Friday off of work, so we had a few days to decompress and unpack and such. I don't think I've ever had a vacation with extra days at home before having to go back to work. I always make the trip last as long as possible....but it sure was nice to have those few breather days in between.
Sorry, that was waaaay too long. But that was the trip. Brian gave me a little 'you know we can't really do Disney World every year' talk...but by the time we were leaving he was thinking that maybe we should go to Disneyland for one of the Not-So-Scary Halloween parties, or sometime around Christmas. Ha...although we have already been planning a couple of trips to take this next year, so I think Disney MIGHT have to wait.
