We arrived late on a Saturday night. In fact, we could see Disney fireworks going on as we landed! The next day we met my Uncle Grant and Aunt Lynne at an old Florida attraction known as Gatorland.
You will never see so many gators all in one place. Amazing. The gators may not have been as 'snappy' as usual, though. It was still in the 40s when we arrived that morning. But look at that sunshine! Here is Tristan wrestling a gator. Wow, is he brave or what? ;)
Thanks Grant & Lynne, for a fun day!Later that afternoon we were off to see the Mouse! We went to Epcot to have dinner and visit some of the countries. We ate Moroccan food and it was delish! Our favorite attraction was Norway. I don't know why they make the United States attraction a good place to take a nap, and Norway gets the water ride that goes backwards?? Jarrett enjoyed shopping at the little Japanese snack store - it held many fond memories of his mission in Japan.
Day 2 - Epcot for the Future World section. Rides!! And Chip and Dale. The adults loved The Land, where Disney grows plants in very unique ways. (Kids thought that was a snooze-fest.) The kids LOVED Fast Track. In fact, we left for dinner and relaxation and came back for our fast-passes at 8 pm, they loved it so much.
Day 3 - Magic Kingdom!! We got to the park before opening, watched the little welcome show when "Casey Junior's coming down the track . . . ." Then we ran like fools for Space Mountain.
On this day we heard from a friend of mine who was getting ready to leave Florida after a week in the parks. She wanted to give us something and it was one of the coolest somethings ev-er! Here's a hint ---> see what Karina's holding onto so tight (because her dad told her not to lose it!)
Day 2 - Epcot for the Future World section. Rides!! And Chip and Dale. The adults loved The Land, where Disney grows plants in very unique ways. (Kids thought that was a snooze-fest.) The kids LOVED Fast Track. In fact, we left for dinner and relaxation and came back for our fast-passes at 8 pm, they loved it so much.
Day 3 - Magic Kingdom!! We got to the park before opening, watched the little welcome show when "Casey Junior's coming down the track . . . ." Then we ran like fools for Space Mountain.
On this day we heard from a friend of mine who was getting ready to leave Florida after a week in the parks. She wanted to give us something and it was one of the coolest somethings ev-er! Here's a hint ---> see what Karina's holding onto so tight (because her dad told her not to lose it!)
She gave us a special Fast Pass she had received. You could put it into a Fast Pass machine as many times as you wanted to, and it would spit out a ticket to ride that ride RIGHT THEN! Not hours later like those poor other schmucks getting fast passes. This allowed us to get in a very short line (usually 10 minutes or so) when the regular lines were 60-150 minutes long. Don't worry, we shared a couple of these tickets because we felt sorry for the schmucks. And alas, the Magic Fast Pass expired after the following day.
Here are Karina, Julia, Tristan, Brianna & Marc in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We rode that one over and over again.
And the girls enjoying the ride! We were at the park almost 12 hours that day - we left after the fireworks.
Day 4 - Disney's Hollywood Studios. Not to be confused with Universal Studios (we did not go there). We had the magic fast pass so we rode everything two or three times.
The best ride is the Rock n Roller Coaster. Karina thought it a little too fast. We watched a High School Musical show, a stunt car show, and got to meet Mickey & The Incredibles. This was the one park I could have gone back to - there are so many great shows and rides, it's hard to see them all in a 10 hour day!
And the girls enjoying the ride! We were at the park almost 12 hours that day - we left after the fireworks.
Day 4 - Disney's Hollywood Studios. Not to be confused with Universal Studios (we did not go there). We had the magic fast pass so we rode everything two or three times.
The best ride is the Rock n Roller Coaster. Karina thought it a little too fast. We watched a High School Musical show, a stunt car show, and got to meet Mickey & The Incredibles. This was the one park I could have gone back to - there are so many great shows and rides, it's hard to see them all in a 10 hour day!Day 5 - Disney's Animal Kingdom. I was not expecting to enjoy this park so much.
But wow, the safari in itself is amazing. The roller coaster here is fabulous too. And the Finding Nemo stage production was really top-notch. (I don't normally say 'top-notch' but it's true and I've already said amazing and fabulous so....) We got out the ponchos to ride the River Rapids - hey there was only a 5-minute line!!
Day 6 - back to Magic Kingdom. We got a slower start to the day
on purpose and vowed to take a more leisurely pace. We also wanted to fill the kids' autograph books with character signatures, which we did.
Oh! And it was in the 60s this day - the warmth felt so good!
Day 7 - The beach! Were were feeling DONE with Disney. And it was 72 degrees. So we headed to Cocoa Beach to put our toes in the Atlantic Ocean.
Well worth the hour and a half drive. (Except for those tolls! How annoying!) When we got back to the hotel/condo, the kids went for a swim in the pool and the adults pulled up a lounge chair and lounged.
Day 8 - Time to go home. But the flight wasn't until afternoon so we looked around Downtown Disney and then drove to see the Orlando Temple.
I would love to say the flight home was uneventful. But we got a little exercise in getting to our connecting flight, and then Karina had been pretty sick all day and that manifested itself in a bag in the back of the plane. So we were happy to be home and happy that we had such a fun trip with great friends. Thanks for reading this epic tale!
But wow, the safari in itself is amazing. The roller coaster here is fabulous too. And the Finding Nemo stage production was really top-notch. (I don't normally say 'top-notch' but it's true and I've already said amazing and fabulous so....) We got out the ponchos to ride the River Rapids - hey there was only a 5-minute line!!Day 6 - back to Magic Kingdom. We got a slower start to the day
on purpose and vowed to take a more leisurely pace. We also wanted to fill the kids' autograph books with character signatures, which we did.
Oh! And it was in the 60s this day - the warmth felt so good!
Day 7 - The beach! Were were feeling DONE with Disney. And it was 72 degrees. So we headed to Cocoa Beach to put our toes in the Atlantic Ocean.Well worth the hour and a half drive. (Except for those tolls! How annoying!) When we got back to the hotel/condo, the kids went for a swim in the pool and the adults pulled up a lounge chair and lounged.
Day 8 - Time to go home. But the flight wasn't until afternoon so we looked around Downtown Disney and then drove to see the Orlando Temple.
I would love to say the flight home was uneventful. But we got a little exercise in getting to our connecting flight, and then Karina had been pretty sick all day and that manifested itself in a bag in the back of the plane. So we were happy to be home and happy that we had such a fun trip with great friends. Thanks for reading this epic tale!
