Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Florida 2013, Part 5: Disney World

This is it. The big day! Disney World, people! We were up at a relatively decent time for a change and hit the park before noon. What an efficient operation they have there when it comes to parking and shuttles! The obligatory photo at the entrance, and then the castle! I don’t think that the boys had any idea what was in store for them. Oh my gosh – what a blast!

First off – the riverboat ride. More exciting if you’re a grown up, but still fun. And, a good way to get your bearings and plan your rides. More birds that I’ll never properly identify. Here and there and around and back – a few rides, but nothing exciting. Our planning was poor for the first part of the day. So, suddenly, it was back to Downtown Disney for lunch and a stop at the Lego store. I swear, they liked the Lego store (FREE) almost more than frickin’ Disney World (decidedly NOT free)! Note to self for next vacation...

When we got back, there was an impromptu parade! Can’t beat a fun parade!

And, after our completely amazing time at Disney Studios Star Wars adventure, it was no surprise that the R2D2 mouse ears were our choices!

Another highlight was the race cars. Meatball and I actually beat Bub and Peanut, but I can promise that it wasn’t due to Meatball’s exceptional driving abilities. Instead, it was because their car was faulty.

Super great roller coaster: The gold rush train coaster thingy. In 18 years, this is the ONLY roller coaster that Bub has ridden with the exception of Puff at Lagoon. She should have stuck to Puff. In addition to the Tourette’s attack that commenced, I was convinced that she was going to have a) an anxiety attack, b) a heart attack, c) both. It was not that bad, but if Puff is your breaking point, I guess it was a bit much. The boys and I loved it. I knew that it was just going to get better from there!

Next bit of awesomeness was some Toy Story themed ride where you shoot Zorg or something like that. Whatever. It had mild spinning, lots of lights, and laser guns. It was a blast. At some point, we managed to eat our picnic dinner. We rode some high spinning spaceships, Pirates of the Carribean, and some other stuff before it was time for the electric light parade.

The parade was just as great as it was when I was ten. Everyone loved it. One of the greatest parts of the parade was looking at the faces of our boys and, frankly, every child around us. The place really is magical. Meatball and I rode the Haunted Castle ride (which was as cool as I remembered it 30 years ago), but Peanut was too scared. He and Bub waited for us outside. They caught the first part of the evening’s fireworks. Me and Meatball caught most of it.

Man – what a long day! We were all pooped, and ready to go back to the hotel. Almost at the gate, we realized that we MIGHT be able to still meet Mickey. We rushed up the steps to some building and inside as quickly as possible. We were the last people allowed in line that night. WIN!

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