Dejazoo...

... Day 14, Animal Kingdom, among other things:



Hmmm... If we had a "bad" day on our trip in '06, it was at Animal Kingdom. Can't say we ticked off any parking lot employees this time around, but it wasn't any easier getting started! Grace was moody... and Caleb was sick... so I decided to rent a double stroller.... for $31.00... WHAT? You've got to be kidding, right? So, I stand in line and pay in cash, and when I get over to the place where they're supposed to give me my stroller, the guy tells me that I have a voucher for a single stroller. So, I stand in line again, and the original Disney Cast member apologizes and gives me the right voucher, and I go claim my double stroller which already has our name on it, even though the stroller guy didn't believe me that I paid for it!

And so we begin our day... with Mom and Dad... again... because everyone else in the family has conveniently disappeared... again...

We walked through the oasis exhibits and then back to Africa, where we secured fast passes for Kilimanjaro Safari and then immediately jumped on the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch:

Once there, we actually went over to the Conservation Station and Habitat Habit exhibits this time, but we avoided the Affection Section like the plague, because I have a serious phobia of petting zoos. You might be laughing, but I am completely and totally not kidding!

Just as we were ready to leave I noticed Jimminy Cricket standing nearby, so of course we went to meet him, at which point Rafiki and Pocahontas made appearances, so of course we went to meet them, too. Jimminy Cricket kissed Mom, but we didn't have the video camera running at the time, which was a bummer:

We then hopped back on the train and got in the fastpass line for the Safari, which really did move fast. I got all settled in to my seat and switched my camera on, which read "change the battery pack". this would ordinarily not be a problem, but the battery pack was plugged into the wall at the house! I quickly tried to snap some pics. with the kids cameras (that don't have nearly enough megapixels to take decent pics. while riding in a rickety safari vehicle and shooting at moving animals. After giving up on this plan, I tapped Mom on the shoulder and said, "Hey, can I have your camera?" And she gave it to me, even though she looked confused that someone with five cameras (and two video cams.) in her bag would need to borrow a camera. I was conserving battery on the olympus, because I also left that extra battery pack at home and wanted it for video later in the day! In my stressed out state I took some shaky, lousy pics. of the safari, which Mom did e-mail to me, but which I have not yet downloaded... Still, I love the safari!

We met Baloo, which was definitely a highlight of our day (again, the pics. are on Mom's cam., and I haven't downloaded them), and I think we saw trees having sex. Please... there is no possible way to explain this. I am pretty sure there is video of this somewhere if you really want to see it. To tell you the truth, it was beautiful and artistic except for the fat, old man that was standing near us lusting after the tree...

We picked up fastpasses for Kali River Rapids and then headed to Restaurantasaurus for lunch, where we had more typical Disney counter service fare that was about to make me puke at this point.

We picked up fastpasses for expedition Everest on our way back to Kali River and then enjoyed getting wet on yet another raft ride! We went back to Dinoland (again) and rode Triceratops Spin and looked longingly at Primeval Whirl, which was closed for refurb., and which we still have not ridden! Then Phil and the kids played in The Boneyard, while I changed Ian's diaper and wondered why Animal Kingdom always has to be so stinkin' hot...

We walked over to Finding Nemo: The Musical, which was very good. And I will probably have the "Big Blue World" song in my head for the rest of my life! After the musical, it was time to conquer Everest... but not with Caleb who turned out to be about a fraction of a quarter of an inch too short to ride... which ticked me off...

In the end, I'm not sure it even mattered, because I didn't care for the ride. It gave me a headache. And it's not like I am a coaster wimp or anything. But, come on, only a moron would go to Disney for it's coasters. Everyone knows that. Still, here's the video:



This basically ended our day at Animal Kingdom. And to tell you the truth, I'm not sure I really need to go back there... well... except to ride Primeval Whirl... As Disney Magic goes, Animal Kingdom is just OK...

We made a quick stop at the house for batteries and at Chick-Fil-A for dinner.

From there, we went back over to Epcot again (yeah... believe it or not), where we hit Character Spot in order to meet the classic Disney characters we had not yet seen on this trip:

Phil, the kids, and I then set up camp with leaking glow sticks (that turned Ian's hair a fluorescent purple color) and premium Mickey Mouse ice cream bars (that Caleb ate this time around, but Ian wouldn't touch). By the way, I really enjoyed telling the guy at the ice cream cart that all six bars were for me! We scoped out an area of prime real estate for the Illuminations show and waited there for an hour and a half, warding off other spectators who hoped to take our spots. And finally, the rest of our family showed up... which was a good thing, because it isn't easy to save that much space!

We saw Illuminations together, and to tell you the truth, I thought it was pretty good, but not the amazing show that everyone seems to rave about. I guess I'm just partial to Wishes, though. Afterward, we has somebody take a quick pic. of us all in front of Spaceship Earth. Unfortunately, there were no Photopass photographers in sight, so this picture is just alright... not the shot I'd really hoped for:


Oh... please take note of my flashing Mickey Mouse ears. Those were really fun!

And thus ended the part of our vacation with everyone there in Florida.

Lisa

Watterlogged...

... day 13, Blizzard Beach... and the subsequent "pool party"!

We love waterparks... no matter I don't know how to swim! We were terribly disappointed to find that Typhoon Lagoon was going to close for it's annual refurbishment just days before we arrived in FL. However, Blizzard Beach was open, so off we went...

Upon arrival, we found Mom, Dad, Steve, Nancy, and the girls and took a trip up the Ski Lift, which is just as terrible with a baby as I remember it! The ride operator at the top was, however, impressed that he didn't have to stop the lift for me, because I was capable of grabbing Ian and jumping off! When we reached the top, we took a ride on Teamboat Springs, the family raft slide. Seth and Grace went with Grandma and Grandpa, and I think we could have persuaded Grandma to ride again... at gunpoint... Phil and I rode with Caleb and Ian. It was a trip:


We then went in search of life jackets... oops... small oversight... and took a "spin" on the lazy river:

Hey look, we're a "Hidden Mickey"!I love this one:

Here's a video clip of Ian, literally spinning:

We enjoyed Ski Patrol Training Camp, although Seth was just slightly irritated that I would not let him ride the zipline that dropped off into over 8 feet of water! The kids loved the floats and the slides!

Crossing the Floats:

Caleb (above), Seth and Grace (Below)

Here's a video clip of one of the slides. Seth and Grace come down first, followed by Caleb and Phil:

The kids also enjoyed Tike's Peak, although Seth found that he was too tall for one of the slides (which made him cry). Grace took Ian down the baby slides until he was comfortable enough to go on his own... head first!


Grandpa found us playing at Tike's Peak, so we were able to hook up with him and Grandma again, and we went to have lunch at Lottawatta Lodge. I was getting pretty sick of counter service amusement park food at this point, but at least they had fish. You can only eat so many personal pizzas, cheeseburgers, and chicken nuggets in 2 weeks! I might add here that everyone from our family was having lunch at the same place at approximately the same time, but due to lack of planning, we did not eat together...

After lunch, we rode Runoff Rapids... twice (the kids would have gone again, but my legs were burning from all the stairs), and we rode the Downhill Double Dipper, which was a really short racing slide with a really long line. It was fun, though! We decided to skip on the mat slides and the body slides, as the kids couldn't ride them.

We splashed around in the wave pool for awhile, and I have to say that I do not care for this particular wave pool. The waves are almost continuous, and it made me kind of motion sick! Grace, Elizabeth, and Audrey all managed to scrape their knees up on the bottom, as well!

After a major temper tantrum from Grace ('nough said), we took one more ride on the lazy river, and then we called it a day, because the park was closing!

We went back to the house where we ate pizza and had a "pool party"... except pretty much no one else wanted to swim (except Elizabeth), because they had had enough water for the day. As we did not get to use the pool very much (due to our busy schedule), we enjoyed this time in the water. I took a pretty good underwater shot of Seth, and a video clip of Phil having way too much fun with a giant inflatable dolphin:




By the way, I have no idea why my video quality for the last two days is so poor. The videos look great when I play them on my computer from the raw files, and I haven't done anything differently with these than the ones from earlier in the trip. I'll continue to post them, but I'm not sure how to make them look any better. It might be hit and miss.

Lisa

You Kidnap The Parents...

... We'll steal the car!

Ah... our long awaited trip to Epcot finally arrived (uh... wait... weren't we just there a couple of days ago?) Well... anyway...

We had been planning this day for over a year, when Phil booked a room for Mom and Dad at the Polynesian resort! Mom has often talked about wanting to stay there... for as long as I have known her, anyway, and we wanted to pull this off as a complete surprise... which was not easy!

Just as everyone else got ready to leave the house for our day at Epcot, Phil ran out and informed them that he had a school assignment that he had forgotten about, and he had to get it in, so they should just go on ahead of us. Mom (who was situated in Brad and Sheri's van) protested, saying that they could wait, but Phil insisted. Then... just as Brad was backing up, Phil ran out again, saying that he needed Mom's car keys, since he'd left something in the trunk. Again, Mom said they would wait, but Brad peeled out of the driveway, and that was the end of that!

Phil and I proceeded to rush around, packing everything we could find that belonged to Mom and Dad and throwing it in their car. Then I drove the kids to the monorail station, and Phil drove Mom and Dad's car to the Polynesian parking lot. Unfortunately, he had a very difficult time checking them into their room, because he had listed their names as "guests" but not his own (since... duh... he wasn't staying there!) Even though everything else about the reservation was covered with his name, they didn't want to let him check in! Finally they bent some rules, and all was well... Except we'd wasted an hour of our lives, and Caleb, in his distress, had chained himself to the monorail ramp:

I honestly did not pose him like that!

Seth and Grace made great use of the time, determining to work at Disney when they grow up so that they can paint the benches... and the sidewalk! Grace later informed me that she is also going to tear down The Haunted Mansion and Stitch's Great Escape... I hope she has an upper management position if she is going to make decisions like that... hehehe...

Phil finally did join us... after a 20 minute solo monorail ride from the Poly (could've walked in 5)... and we were off to Epcot!

We met up with the rest of the extended fam. and took a ride on Test Track (except for Mom and Dad who stayed off to entertain Ian)! Here's the video from the "Mom Cam"... It was kind of hard to hold it steady, as I was flying!



Please note that this did not affect Grace's hair, which was now on day 4 of the Bippidi Bobbidi Boutique do! I have no idea if it was supposed to last that long, but I am not complaining!

Then we all went our separate ways for a couple of hours. We rode the Dinosaur Ride in Universe of Energy, and we think the addition of Ellen is pretty irritating... but not for all the reasons you might imagine. We just didn't really like having people (Ellen and Bill Nye) showing up in the dinosaur part of the ride. It took away from the experience. It was hilarious, though, when Caleb (who was situated on the outside seat of our row) looked over at the dinosaurs... and then looked at me and said, "Mommy, I shouldn't have chosen this seat!" Grace was terrified of the dinosaurs, and Ian fell asleep! It was quite the ride! We also rode Living With the Land, which our kids find interesting, even though most people say it is boring!

We met up with the rest of the fam. again to ride Spaceship Earth, which has been greatly improved since our last trip to Disney! And then we all jumped the monorail, supposedly to go to the Magic Kingdom.

However, right before we arrived at the transportation center, we all become very... very thirsty, and decided it would be a great idea if Dad would show us the all you can drink soda bar that he is so fond of, located (you guessed it) at the Poly. So, we jumped another monorail, rode to the Poly, all proceeded to order drinks, and sat for awhile until Phil conveniently had to use the restroom. When he came back, he slipped the room keys by Mom's chair, and when we got ready to go he said, "See ya later Mom and Dad!" And they were very confused, because they thought they were coming with us. And I have to note here that we had three separate video cameras running at this point, and they never caught on!

Phil handed the room keys to Mom saying that she must have dropped them, and she was completely confused, because they weren't hers. Finally, Phil mentioned that they were staying at the Polynesian for the night, and then they got it... realized why all the cameras were on them... and were very happy! Here's a pic., just before the guy in the golf cart came to whisk them away to their room:


Everybody else actually did go back to the Magic Kingdom at this point, but we returned to Epcot, because there were still a lot of things we wanted to do there! Future World was only open until 7:00, so we really had to scurry. We had dinner at the Electric Umbrella, and spent some time at Innoventions, where we learned about storms and recycling... and I might not sound fun, but it really was.

Then we headed over to The Land, where we rode Soarin' with our fast passes! Phil, Seth, and Grace came off the ride with 3 minutes to spare for me and Caleb to get on! All I can say is "WOW!" What an amazing ride (and I don't like simulators)! I honestly felt like if Caleb leaned forward he was going to fall into the ocean!

After that, we ran to Imagination and walked on to Figment, just like 2 years ago. We did not take time to stop at the Kodak Imageworks exhibits, which was disappointing, because they looked greatly improved since our last visit, as well.

Instead, we ran over to The Seas. And I do mean ran! We walked on to The Nemo Ride (which usually has a pretty good sized line), and then we walked into a showing of Turtle Talk With Crush (which also usually has a pretty good sized line). Ian was screaming, and Crush made a comment about someone in the audience "speaking dolphin", which cracked us all up! We actually did get to run through The Living Seas exhibit after that, because they hadn't closed it down for the night yet, and then we were eaten (again) by Bruce. Please keep in mind that Phil tends to be eaten more graphically than the rest of us:

We then boarded the monorail for the fourth time in one day and headed back to the house:

It was a very good day...

Lisa

Almost Disappointing...

Day 11 brought some more rest for me and the kids, while Phil, Dad, Steve, and Brad went to look at some "choos" in the morning… They arrived back at the house around noon, we ate a quick lunch of spaghettios and vegetable soup (not mixed together… duh…), and then we were off to Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM).


Now, this had never been our favorite park. I was there in ’94, shortly after it opened, and we took the kids in ’06, basically just to meet Woody and Jessie and to eat at Pizza Planet. However, our hopes were set pretty high, with the additions of Toy Story Mania, The Block Party Bash (Pixar Parade), The High School Musical Pep Rally, Narnia, and the Mike and Sully Character Greeting… We also planned to hit a couple of stage shows, since the kids are now more familiar with many Disney movies than they were two years ago…

We went to the Little Mermaid show first. It was fun, but it was basically just a condensed retelling of the story. We liked the special effects, though. It is always great when you can get rained on indoors…

Strike 1 was the line for Toy Story Mania… 90 minutes! And all of the fast passes for the entire day were gone within an hour of the park opening! Strike 2 was Narnia… no strollers allowed (which is difficult with 4 small kids), so I opted to stay out with Ian… and Grace, who refused to wait in a line. Eventually, I did convince Grace to wait in the very short line to meet Prince Caspian, which she did… begrudgingly… because I told her the only other option was to go sit in the street and wait for Daddy and the boys to emerge from the Narnia attraction. When they did just that, they were less than pleased. Seth’s direct quote was, “that was a waste of time”, and Phil was irritated, because they had shown several video clips that were way too intense for Caleb, and besides that, they gave away the whole story line… and we haven’t seen the movie yet! Strike 3 was The Block Party Bash… which took forever to get to us (we thought we were at the beginning of the parade route, but we were at the end), and then the characters just kind of passed us, even though they did a lot of dancing in the street and interacting with the audience before they got to us… If you’re counting, we should have struck out by now… but I guess we were hitting a lot of foul balls… because… Strike 4 was the Star Tours simulator that Phil rode on a fast pass while we were waiting for the parade. He said it was just OK. And, Strike 5 was our inability to find Mike and Sully anywhere. And, Strike 6 was that the High School Musical Pep Rally has switched to HSM3, so we didn’t know the songs, since we haven’t seen the movie, and we decided to just pass on it altogether. Strike 7… Stunt Spectacular was closed. Strike 8… Backlot Tour involved walking without a stroller (we skipped this). Strike 9… Muppet Show now has various shady jokes. Need I go on? Probably not. However… Strike 10… While we were eating our very yummy dinner at Pizza Planet, we realized that the last Beauty and the Beast show was about to begin (so we skipped that, too)… Strike 11… It was so crowded in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure that I was more worried about losing my kids due to excessive people than their shrunken size…



Around 6:30, we headed over to the stadium where Fantasmic takes place and decided to take our chances, even though we knew it might be too much for the kids… which it probably was… BUT… it was amazing! And here our lousy day at Hollywood Studios took a turn for the better! I was simply blown away by the show! I mean it was really… really… really great… magical as only Disney can do it! The villains were pretty… well… villainous… but we all walked away very pleased with the show. As a side note… It is very difficult to start a wave with only six people… especially when four of them do not know how to do the wave… but it can be done…


Since it was getting late, we hoped we would find a shorter line for Toy Story mania… and we did! The wait was now only 80 minutes… uh… did I just write, “80 minutes”? Yep… that’s right! And, since I am an idiot, I decided it would work for me to stand in line for that long with Seth, Grace, and Caleb, while Ian slept in the stroller and Phil sat with him, charging the battery of his video camera in a secluded outlet plug that he found on an outside wall at the park! Phil also made a short detour through the exit doors of the ride to bring me my camera… which I forgot… even though I knew I would have time for plenty of pics. during my almost hour and a half wait! In the end, it was a fantastic ride… well worth the wait, although I was afraid I might lose my mind by the end with three wiggly… whining… completely exhausted children!



Fantasmic and Toy Story mania definitely saved the day! As it turns out, there are a few things we would like to return to Hollywood Studios for, if time allows (namely the character appearances that we missed), but on future trips, I’m not real convinced we need to go there unless there are some major changes to the park. It all made for a good story though…

We left Hollywood Studios about an hour after it closed for the night... imagine that!

Lisa

Regroupin'...

... Just in time to take a trip around the world!

Spent the first part of this day doing laundry, cleaning up, and getting things in order. For the first time this trip, I feel like everything is where it needs to be in order to launch out each day... and it only took four hours... ugh!

In the late afternoon, we decided to go to Epcot, where we visited the World Showcase. An Epcot cast member got a pretty good kick out of Grace at the map stand when she decided to take a map printed in Japanese, and then she couldn't figure out how to read it! In the end, we decided it would be best if she saved the Japanese map as a souvenir and took an English one for navigating. Caleb, also, decided he should probably have one that was printed in English which brought even more laughter, because he can't read yet, so it didn't really matter which map he picked!


Last time we were here, we skipped on the Kidcot Fun Stops, but not this time! All of the kids made masks and collected the "charms" from each of the eleven countries! Then they got prizes (posters and buttons proclaiming that they are Walt Disney World Honorary Citizens) for all their hard work! We had a great time exploring the world! Here's my favorite pic:


The kids are getting on each other's nerves just a bit at this point. Seth and Caleb were having a pretty good fight, so I instructed them to stand and pose for a picture in Canada... like they loved each other! This was the result... Then they stopped fighting for a while...


Probably the best part was an interactive street show in the UK, because at the end one of the actresses said a line about the king being happy... and the people being happy... and, "Even the shreiking baby was happy!" Which was a reference to Ian who had screamed intermittently throughout the performance... hehehe...

We met Jasmine (again), Aladdin, and Genie in Morocco. Jasmine made a good save when she didn't "remember" having met Grace yesterday morning and explained that it must be because Grace wasn't wearing her jacket at breakfast... hehehe... Ian would not acknowledge Aladdin and was scared to death of Genie. But he liked Jasmine... hmmm... just like someone else I know...


I bought a passport and had fun collecting stamps from each country as well, even though this is something that kids usually do... I thought it was a blast!

We had all of our names written in Japanese and Chinese, and we found out that I was born in the year of the Ram (stubborn...yeah...), Seth was born in the year of the Dragon, Grace was born in the year of the Snake, Caleb was born in the year of the Monkey (no surprise there), and Ian was born in the year of the Dog. Phil didn't have anything to stamp or sign, so we don't know what his name looks like or when he was born... hehehe...

Here are a few pics. of our trip around the world. It took us several hours this time around, as opposed to our sprint around the world in an hour and forty-five minutes last time! Truthfully, I could probably spend at least a couple of days there, but that will be an adventure for some years down the road, when the kids can appreciate World Showcase yet a little better...

My only real disappointment is that I discovered that there are smashed penny machines in each country... after we were almost finished with the showcase... I smashed one generic Epcot World Showcase penny, but if I have time to run through by myself, I'd like to get them all...

Everyone was exhausted by the time we were done. Phil and the kids took a nap at Guest Relations, while I claimed the prizes I mentioned earlier:


The kiddos were asleep again when we arrived back at the house to watch the election results. I fell asleep, too... on the couch... and woke up to announcements of president elect Obama. And the world didn't go up in flames contrary to some popular opinion... And with that let me say that I have no idea what the next four years will bring. Some ideals that Obama holds to are a little scary to me, but he has many good ideas, as well, and I trust that God is the one who is really in control of all things, so one election isn't going to make or break the world.

I'm out...

Lisa

Pure Magic...

Day 9… The Magic Kingdom...

We have been anticipating this day for a really… really long time now! It was pretty close to everything we hoped for!

My day began at 4:30am… yikes! There was much to do and many people to get ready and out the door by 6:30! We actually left the driveway at 6:45, but no worries… we still arrived in plenty of time at the Magic Kingdom parking lot, and as an added bonus, the parking attendants weren’t quite ready for traffic, so they let us park for free in pretty much the most prime parking spot you can get at the MK!

From there we walked over to the monorail station, and hopped on a train… completely by ourselves! In fact, Phil, Seth, Grace, and Caleb even got to ride in front, in essence “driving” the monorail… oh… yeah… very sweet!

When we got off the monorail and headed for the MK entrance we had to wait in line, because they weren’t letting anyone in just yet. Grace’s appointment at Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique was scheduled for 45 minutes before the park opened, so we got in early!

Phil and the boys waited in the castle by the roped off area to Fantasyland, while Grace and I visited the BBB. And let me tell ya… it was just amazing! It was worth every single cent, and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! By the way… I don’t think I ever stopped smiling… start to finish!

Since the park still wasn’t open when we were done, we all waited by the ropes… well… except for Ian who thought it would be more fun to run under the ropes into the closed park… and then… well… Caleb thought it was a pretty good opportunity to get in early, while looking like he was chasing the baby… And then… well… Phil couldn’t just let them both run around in there, so he had to jump the ropes, of course! I wish I’d gotten all of this on video, but I was laughing way too hard to even think of it at the time!

Finally, the ropes were taken down, and we proceeded to be the first family into the park, slapping “high fours” with all of the Disney Cast Members and their Mickey Mouse hands! We rode Dumbo (my classic all time favorite), Peter Pan, Small World, and Cinderella’s Golden Carousel in record time (seriously, around 20 minutes)! And then… after all of this excitement… It was time to eat Breakfast in the castle, at Cinderella’s Royal Table… where they actually managed to accommodate our entire party of 15, even though we only had 12 reserved seats! Yes, dreams really do come true at Disney!

We met the fairy godmother, Cinderella, Jasmine (yeah… check it out… that’s Phil in that pic.), Snow White, and Belle! Grace was pretty much in Princess Heaven, and my three little princes cracked a few smiles, too… I think the highlight for the boys, though, was getting souvenir swords. I have already hidden them…

After breakfast, we continued our adventure through Fantasyland, riding everything else there, and then we went to Mickey’s Toontown Fair. This was especially exciting for me, as we missed a lot of this part of the park last time around. We explored Mickey and Minnie’s houses, and I glanced at the Pixie Hollow sign long enough to gasp at the 90 minute wait… I have a plan for this on another day… Amazingly, Grace didn’t catch the sign and still doesn’t realize that she is going to get to meet Tink live and in person! I cannot wait to capture the look on her face!

We rode The Barnstormer, and I got some pretty decent video of Grace’s ride. It’s hard to know exactly what I’m taping, because I can’t flip the screen. Unfortunately, blogger is acting up again, so no video footage for this post!

After we’d covered Toontown, we hopped on the train and took a spin around the entire park (dropping Grandma off in Frontierland to hook up with the rest of the family). And then on to Tomorrowland, where we ate at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café, now a tradition…

We skipped the Indy Speedway due to the long line, but we’ll be back to catch a ride later in the week! We rode Tomorrowland Transit Authority (The People Mover), Astro Orbiter, and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (oh… love that ride)! Then we checked out the Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor, which was a lot of fun, and Seth, Grace, Caleb, and I went into Stitch’s Great Escape (which was not fun at all… worst waste of time I have ever spent in an amusement park, hands down… Grace was terrified… Caleb was completely confused… Seth was irritated… and, frankly, I was disgusted… did I mention it was a huge waste of time?)

Tomorrowland was apparently having some ride issues, because Space Ranger Spin shut down just before we got on, and Stitch’s Great Escape (which is a huge waste of time… did I mention this?) also shut down briefly before we got on… The second delay cost us some time getting in position for the Spectromagic Parade, but we still got pretty good seats, and once everyone was settled, I went to get us all ice cream, which was delicious… and messy… hehehe…

Steve, Nancy, Elizabeth, Audrey, Brad, Sheri, and Abby all joined us for the parade. The kids were really into it this time around, especially because they are more familiar with the characters than last time. Ian loved the “fishies”, which brought back memories for me of when Caleb was a baby.

After the parade we headed toward the castle to get into a better position for Wishes. Each time we found a better spot, Phil would run ahead and look for another place, while the kids and I stood our ground. In the end, we got almost to the statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse and enjoyed a very good viewing area for the show.

Wishes is the most amazing fireworks show ever! Even though I have seen it before and own the soundtrack, I was still in tears at the first note! There is nothing in all the world like sitting on the concrete at the happiest place on Earth and snuggling your kids while the whole sky explodes in color overhead…

After the show, we took our time getting out of the park. We even stopped for pictures in front of the castle in two different locations. It was a beautiful end to a wonderful day:

While we were waiting in line for the monorail, I turned to Phil and laughed, saying, “There’s no rush to get out of the Magic Kingdom… I mean, who wants to leave?” And I meant it…

I know it doesn’t really compare, but if a place like the Magic Kingdom can inspire such amazement, what must the Kingdom of Heaven be like… No doubt it will be so overwhelming we could never begin to comprehend it here on Earth…

We stopped or slurpies at 7-11 on the way back to the house… Well, Phil and I did, anyway… All of our little people were sound asleep within moments of buckling their seat belts:

And our vacation continues…

Lisa

I Am Ever Tired...

... Day 8

Today we moved from our hotel suite to an amazing rental house...

In between we played mini golf at Fantasia Gardens... which was awesome... especially when it started raining... but I lost by one putt... and that wasn't awesome... because I play mini golf for blood...

Unfortunately, the batteries for the Powershot died... and I didn't have the XTi or the Olympus on me... so there are only a couple of pics, and Phil hasn't downloaded them yet... so you don't get to see them... hehehe...

Then we went to DisneyQuest. It is not baby friendly. I knew there was a no stroller rule, but come on, there weren't even high chairs at the restaurant! Ian wasn't interested in doing anything... well, except for running away from me... so he and I left after lunch (which was only an hour or so into our time there). That was fine, because Phil and our "big kids" got to stay and play, while Ian and I cruised Downtown Disney Westside and looked in some stores. I found a statue of a giraffe that I really wanted. It only cost $3,200.00, but I figured I didn't really need it, so I resisted the impulse buy... hehehe... Who the heck pays $3200.00 for a statue? You could finance your next Disney trip with that kind of cash... Yes... I had sticker shock...

I have one pic to post, tonight, of all the cousins (minus Ian) running through Downtown Disney and almost knocking people over... it was pretty funny....

There will be much... much more to write about tomorrow! I guess you could call this an "off" day... So, why am I so exhausted?

Lisa

Aquatica...

... Amazing!

Day Seven...

We have long been anticipating our trip to Aquatica... like since the day SeaWorld announced it was being built! Sometimes when you set your hopes too high, you are disappointed. We were not disappointed today!

It's hard to know where to begin. The slides were incredible... from the little kid slides... to the bigger kid slides... to the racing mat slide... to the tube slides... to the funnel slide... to the family raft slides... to "Dolphin Plunge", Aquatica's signature slide that actually goes through a dolphin habitat! Just... Wow! I actually rode that one twice, because the first time the dolphins weren't swimming near me, so I didn't see them. The second time I saw one, and it was just awesome!


Over the course of this trip, our kids have really discovered a love for pools in general... and specifically for wave pools! Here they are, having a blast:


One of my favorite parts of the day was when I took Caleb down all of the "big" kiddie slides! He had so much fun and was very animated. He actually stopped to tell a stranger that he got wet, which cracked me up!

We had one scary incident while riding "Roa's Rapids", an incredible action river in which no tubes are allowed! The current is very strong, and as we went to get on, Grace got scared and held back. I tried to wait for her, but I was holding Ian, and even if I hadn't been, there was simply no possible way to swim against this current... so down the river Ian and I flew... and so did Phil and Caleb, because they got in before us! The only thing I could do was to scream, "WAIT HERE" to Grace (and Seth, by the way, who wouldn't come without her, which I found surprising... but I was rather proud of him nonetheless...), and I made eye contact with a life guard who I saw move their way. But we really didn't know if we would find them there or not until we rode the entire river! Thankfully, Uncle Brad, Aunt Sheri, and Abby were in the river (although we didn't know it) and came out and found Seth and Grace long before we got around to them! Uncle Brad even took Seth into the river to try to find us. In the end, Grace got a pretty good chewing out, and then we all managed to catch the current (which I am now fondly referring to as the E.A.C... if you haven't found Nemo, that won't make any sense). I have some video footage to upload, but blogger is giving me trouble tonight, so hopefully I'll be able to put it up sometime tomorrow...

"Loggerhead Lane", the lazy river, was pretty good, too. It went through a small fish grotto and the Commerson Dolphin exhibit. Ian kept telling me that he needed "more fishies"... a phrase we've heard a lot this past week! Here are a couple of pics. of us riding the river. The one of Ian with the fish is my favorite picture of the day:



Aquatica is... by far... the best waterpark I have ever visited! And that's saying a lot! By the way, I counted up all of the water parks our kids have been to, and it comes to ten! I then told them that I didn't go to a water park until I was 13 years old, to which Seth replied, "Mom, when you were thirteen, did you even know what water was?" Of course I told him no... that when I was born, all there was on the Earth was dirt... hehehe... Oh, comic relief for a very tired Mommy!

Steve, Nancy, Elizabeth, and Audrey arrived tonight, and we're off to the rental house tomorrow for the next week of our trip! Disney, here we come!

Lisa