Broke, but happy!: March 2011

The first week of March we went to Disney World to "experience the magic" Boy was it magical, everyone used the word magical when they talked to you. Have a magical evening, How can I make your day magical, Have a magical ride. Lordy, it was magical alright! We were like a whirlwind. We drove 10 hours to get there, crashed around midnight, then spent our 1st day at the "Magical" Magic Kingdom. We were there for the opening ceremony and we hit the park like crazy nuts. We jumped on every ride or "experience" as we came to it. The thing about the rides is that they are actually "experiences" We couldn't help to wonder. "How in the world did they come up with this?" "Who in the world would have ever thought of this?" It was truly magical. Emily was sick the 1st day or so we were at Disney, but she was a trooper and we stayed until the evening fireworks. Emily's favorite thing was the haunted mansion and Abigail just loved everything. We covered the entire park and only bypassed a few things. The park wasn't really crowded and we didn't wait in line more than 10 minutes for anything. We left the park at closing, had a late supper, and we were in bed by 11:30 that night.

Goofy at the Garden Grove

Pluto at the Garden Grove restaurant

Belle from Beauty and the Beast

Marie

Alice

Mary Poppins

The second day we went to Epcot. This is the best place I have ever went! We happened to be at Disney when the Flower Festival started and everything was decked out in flowers. It was absolutely amazing. The "rides" (and here again I hate to call them rides because they are so much more) were absolutely amazing. We went through a greenhouse where they used futurisic ideas to grow all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and even some exotic stuff. This was one neat place and I would have liked a behind the scenes tour here. They told us that most of the stuff grown in there was used by the restaurants at Disney. We did a Captain Eo show starring Michael Jackson and Emily loved it. (She has been infatuated with MJ ever since we got home.) We had made our way around to one of the major attractions late in the day and the wait the "Soarin" ride (which is a hang gliding experience) was about an hour, so we grabbed a Fast Pass and the passes were for 8-9pm come back time. We had a 7pm dinner reservation with Goofy and Pluto at a hotel across the lake and we were worried that we would not make it back by closing time to use the fast pass, but we did. We hiked from the buffet line all the way back over to the boat taxi and then hiked like wild people over to where the ride was. We arrived at 8:50pm! Whewwww! We went on it and it was so real. There was even smells added to the experience when we went over the ocean, over an orange grove, and through an evergreen forest. We felt like we were about to dip of feet into some waves and we almost got hit by a golf ball when we flew over the golf course. When it was over they let us ride again to fill the last ride of the evening. So a double "Soarin" adventure for us. It was a great end to a great Epcot day. We weren't able to cover all of the countries around the "World Showcase", but that leaves us something new to see if we ever make it back there. Emily and Brandon did get to see more of the countries than Abigail and I did. They participated in a Kim Possible mission that took them to Norway to crack a mystery and catch a super villain. They got a clue, received a cell phone and the phone told you what to do, where to go to communicate with a satellite, and then they sent a smoke signal to ask the Viking Gods if they would help. Then they went into a shop to see a troll and take a picture with the phone. They could tell you more about it than I could because I was with Abigail meeting Princesses and Marie, the Aristocat.

Jasmine was a fun one to meet-she asked Abi if she kept her monkey treats in her bag. Abi told her she didn't have a monkey and Jasmine told Abi if she found her and Alladin's monkey she could have it! Then she asked Abi if that was her travel bag, now Abi calls it her travel bag! She also pointed out that Abi was wearing her jewels (see Abi's shirt) and that purple was the color of royalty.

One of the beautiful garden areas

This is the closest we came to meeting Mickey and Minnie!

Pictures below are from the Living with the Land "experience" food grown here are used in Disney restaurants It was like something from the future-words really can't describe

Sweet potatoes

notice pumpkins hanging in "mini hammocks"

Pictures below are from Epcot-mostly flower stuff-it was WONDERFUL!

Below are pictures from Magic Kingdom

Part of the parade

Swiss Family Robinson tree house-AWESOME

Let me take you on a magic carpet ride!

Pictures below are from our hotel. We were at the Movies Resort and we stayed in the Toy Story Building. These pictures are from the hotel "courtyard" area

Our very modest accommodations. 2 full size beds were all we needed to crash for 8 hours so we could do it all again the next day.

The 3rd day we went to Hollywood Studios. It was OK, but nothing to really write home about. We enjoyed a stunt show where they reenacted a chase scene with cars and motorcycles. There was the Tower of Terror that Abigail absolutely loved. It was a twilight zone themed adventure where they put you in an "elevator" which you were strapped down in, and then they acted like they were taking you up to your room. When the elevators doors opened you dropped 13 stories or so and you saw everything outside as you were falling and then they did it again and again. We all felt a little green afterwards, but it was a neat ride. We watched an Indiana Jones stunt reenactment, went through the Toy Story carnival ride, and did a Studio Backlot tour. It was a good day, but we didn't need the entire park opening hours to see what we wanted to see. We were there during ESPN weekend and a lot of famous football players were there, but that really didn't interest us. We got out of there by 7pm and went over to Downtown Disney to find a nice restaurant with some good food. When we got there we couldn't find a restaurant that had a menu that looked appealing. I wanted some plain food-grilled steaks or something "normal" not almon pineapple glazed peach sauteed porkchops or whatever! We got tired of looking for a good restaurant so we went back to our room and got the car and made a trip over to good ole McDonalds. All 4 of us devoured our meals and if I were to be honest, I think this was one of the best meals I had the entire time we were gone. We went to some really "nice" places while we were down there, but none of them really appealed to me.

Yes, that is me with a big Woody! Haha!

fake street scene at rear of picture

Singing in the Rain

Our Queen of Heart

Aboard the Toy Story Arcade game ride

Across from Toy Story ride

The 4th day we went to the Animal Kingdom Park. We had almost decided not to go there while we were planning this trip, but we decided that we would go ahead and visit all 4 parks while we were here. We were afraid this park would just be an overdone zoo of some sort, but boy were we wrong! This was an amazing place like nothing we had ever seen. It has to tie with the Epcot for my favorite Park. First thing that morning Brandon saw the raft ride and there was no way I was going to get soaked first thing and have to walk around with wet socks and shorts. I can't stand the feeling of wet clothes! The kids didn't think it was a big deal until they got of the raft ride and realized they were going to have to tough it out until there clothes dried!

Later that day we were able to watch a veterinarian do surgery on a 2 month old black buck (similar to a small antelope) It had a hernia near its belly button and they were fixing it. When we got there to watch they were sewing it up. The only thing separating us from the surgery was a glass wall. Emily was really interested in this. It was "funny" to see its little hooves and legs hanging out from the white sheet! The girls decided they wanted there faces painted so Emily got hers done as a tiger and Abigail got the "Desert Queen" design. We got many compliments throughout the day on them. Later that day we went on a safari and rode through the safari and this again was not just a ride. There was a story line with a plot and some unexpected things along the way. You could almost make yourself believe that you were in an African Sahara.

Another ride called Journey to Everest was a roller coaster ride that made you run up on a yeti (bigfoot like animal) that tore apart the tracks of the coaster and it sent you flying backward to get away from it, then sent you forward on a different track. It was a wild ride and we loved it.

The centerpiece of this park was the "Tree of Life" It was a fake tree that had over 200 carvings of animals throughout its branches and trunk. We took a long time wondering around it to see what animals we could make out. It was really a masterpiece. We also saw a "Nemo" musical. It was really amazing too! How many times have I said amazing in this blog? Words just don't describe some of these things. The musical was about 40 minutes long and Abigail was very interested in all of the characters and their costumes. She said later it was boring, but there is no way she was because she was craning her neck and looking at all the commotion on the stage the entire time.

One of my best moments happened right before closing time and we were trying to make sure we covered everything and collect the last stamps for the kids "Discovery" project that they participated in. We walked up on Lilo and Stitch! I love them (and so do the kids by the way) and I wanted to get in line to meet them and have pictures. When we got up to Stitch I introduced Abi as the "mini-Stitch" because we have always said she acted like Stitch. When Stitch heard this he snuck Abigail off to the mulch nearby and they picked up mulch, hid it behind there backs, and snuck back up to Lilo and Emily. Lilo showed Emily how to cover her face and then Stich and Abigail threw the mulch at them! It was so cute!

That night we ate at the Rain Forest Cafe. The inside of these restaurants are made so it feels like you are actually eating inside the rainforest. Animal sounds, trees, the works. We thought it was ok, but here again its almost like it is a tourist trap where you feel like you just can't bypass it before your trip is over. It could be that we had spent all day inside the Animal Kingdom and we were already overstimulated by our surroundings and this place did nothing for us. Been there done that, next time we are going over to Orlando to eat at Charley's again where I know my cow was hand massaged and given beer before they butchered it! That's what I am talking about! The Rain Forest Cafe did have "The Volcano" dessert. It was a 3 brownie dessert with like half a carton of vanilla ice cream and 2-3 scoops of whipped topping. It was really good and we couldn't even finish all of it.