Disney World

We decided on a whim to go to Disney World last week. At first I was hesitant because I had a closing and didn't want to miss it. Then if I stayed for the closing and then we went we wouldn't have enough time there before Lee went back to work. He ended up being off from Tuesday the 19th and returned to work Thursday the 28th. It was perfect. We left for Disney World Thursday night around 7pm. We got to Orlando 2am. We checked into a hotel for the night.



The next morning we headed over to our hotel on Disney property. We stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside hotel. We got there about 9am and thankfully they had a room ready for us. We got settled in and then grabbed a bite to eat at our hotel food court. We had a perfect package. We had added the meal plan to our package so 3 meals a day were included. It was great. We ended up really getting our monies worth by eating at some really nice restaurants.

The first day we went to the Magic Kingdom. One of the first things we did was go on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Jackson loved it! He thought it was so much fun and when we left the ride there was a show outside with Jack Sparrow! Now Jackson thought that was really cool! We spent all day at the Magic Kingdom and pretty much covered only 1/4 of the park. We left there and then hopped back on the bus to our hotel. We drove to dinner at the Wilderness Lodge. It was a lot of fun.

The restaurant is called Whispering Pines but it is anything but quiet! The servers are loud and it's like you're home on the range. They yell at you to come to the table for dinner and if you don't eat all of your food they will make you eat it. One server went to her table and told everyone that this lady didn't eat her food. She had everyone put their hands out and make airplane sounds. She took a fork w/ the food and zoomed it in her mouth. It was real cute. They had servers running around with the kids and chasing them. At one point they had a horse race with the wooden horses. It was a lot of fun. We got to talking with our server about the area and the business. His dad had been with Disney for 27 years and he told us a lot of their secrets and inside tips. I have to say that they paid off.

We were exhausted when we got back to the hotel. We all passed out fairly soon after getting there. Friday morning we had breakfast at the Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom. We ate with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eyore. We all enjoyed it. I think Lee might have enjoyed it more than the rest of us. At one point he was singing the Winnie the Pooh song to Tigger and made me film it. Very interesting to say the least. We all had a great time and headed over to Epcot.

I have to say at first I wasn't too impressed with Epcot. Later on my impression changed. We went to the Living Seas area first. We rode the Finding Nemo ride and then explored the different areas inside the exhibit. They had a shark area with Bruce (the shark from finding Nemo) and you could sit inside of his large mouth to take a picture. You'd think Jackson would be all for it but nope. He didn't want his picture made. Not even with the hammerhead and he loves hammerhead sharks.

We then went to the Talk with Crush (he's the totally surfer dude talking Turtle from Finding Nemo). It was an interactive show and really neat. He was animated on the screen but he was really talking to us. He took questions from the kids. The humor was also geared towards the adults and really funny. Jackson kept telling me to stop laughing during it. After that we headed over to the half of the park that had the different countries. We were eating in Japan for lunch. It was pouring down rain at this time so Lee bought us all ponchos.

We finally made it to lunch. It was hibachi but not like we're use to. They didn't do fried rice only white rice. The food was okay but not like back at home. We did not stick around the different countries. I have to say that part of Epcot was quite boring to me. It is definitely not geared towards kids. Mackenzie and I went on this really neat ride that you rode in a car. It was suppose to be a crash test car. It was really fun and Mackenzie loved it. She didn't even mind going 65mph on it. Oh... we did the flight simulator for Mission Space. Now that was really cool. Lee and I swapped out and he went on it while I waited with Jackson.

Then we headed back to the Living Seas for dinner. It was really neat. The restaurant was next to the aquarium and one entire wall that all the tables were facing was nothing but the aquarium. There were 5 sharks in the tank, a huge... no, massive turtle and these ginormous grouper. We had a blast watching the fish and sharks swim by. If you were a certified scuba diver you could dive and swim in the tank. A group of scuba divers went down while we were there. It was such a neat dining experience. I'd love to go back again to eat there. The filet wasn't half shabby either.

I have to admit I was exhausted at the end of the day. My feet were tired and I was ready to go back to the hotel room. We got back and settled around 8pm. The kids and I laid in bed and Lee was restless. He went to the hot tub while we stayed in the room. Mackenzie and I laughed and giggled while Jackson passed out. Lee finally came back and said he couldn't ever get in the hot tub b/c of all of the teenage girls hanging around there. For some reason Mackenzie and I thought it was hilarious.

On Sunday we went to MGM Studios. We missed our character breakfast, yes, we didn't wake up with our wake up call. We headed over to MGM. It was different from what I remembered as a kid. We did the Stars Tours which was a flight simulator for Star Wars. Mackenzie really enjoyed that and so did Lee. When we got out Darth Vader and Obi One were doing a show. I got some really great photos of Darth Vader. He looked really cool. Those are still some of my favorite movies. I remember watching them as a little kid with my dad. We then headed over to the 50's drive in diner for lunch. We ate lunch in a Chevy car and watch the big screen. The kids really enjoyed it. The only downside were the older stuffy British couple who were in the back row of our car. They were not a lot of fun and had NO sense of humor. If they didn't like kids then they shouldn't have come to Disney World.

After lunch we headed over to see the High School Musical 2 performance. While Mackenzie and I were at that Lee was getting us Fast Passes for the Tower of Terror and the Aerosmith Rockin' Ride. Mackenzie was so disappointed with the HSM show. I guess she expected the original cast to be there and the song to be just alike. She didn't like the versions of the songs so we quickly left. We waited outside the exit for Lee to head back. He came and Jackson was asleep. Mackenzie and I headed over to the Aerosmith roller coaster ride. Wow! It was such a neat ride. First I have to say that the Disney World rides/coasters, etc. are not like Six Flags. There is some sort of story/background for each of them. It makes them really neat. This one had a great background story to it before we got on the actual ride. The coaster went upside down a couple of times and was pretty intense. Mackenzie did not like it. Her stomach hurt her afterwards. I understand because mine was in knots too and I can usually do fine on the rides.

We headed over to the Tower of Terror. We were told by people in line at the other ride that the ToT is not so bad. It's the first part that they try to scare you with and it's more the build up and the rest is nothing. Wrong! First of all there are about 20 people sitting down in 4 rows with an aisle in between. At the end you are put in an "elevator shaft" and parts of it is open and people outside can see you. You drop down 6 or 7 flights and then it goes back up and drops you again. This repeated 4 times. Mackenzie is clinging to my arm and crying. In between going down and up these stupid foreign guy next to us starts taunting her. I was so furious with him. If I wasn't strapped down I would've decked him. But thankfully we were strapped down because each time we went down it literally lifted us from our seats. Mackenzie did not like the ride at all. She cried after it was over. I won't make her go on it again.

After that we left the park. We headed to our hotel to get ready. For dinner we were eating at the Wilderness Resort and seeing the Hoopdee Doooo Revue. It was a fun and neat show. They had fried chicken, ribs, beans, potatoes, etc. It was a neat thing to go to and experience. Afterwards we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. It was open late for resort guests. Mackenzie and Lee did the Lilo and Stitch show. Then we all went to the Monsters, Inc. stand up comedy show. It was an animated and interactive show. It was seriously funny!!! We all loved it.

Oh... then we went on the Tea Cups again. I think we went on them a total of 3 times. Lee doesn't like those rides but he went on them with us. Jackson would just sit back and get all dizzy. It was great. Jackson's favorite part that night was the Indy Car races. It was just a car ride on a track. He got to drive since we were on rails. Mackenzie was ahead of us driving. It was quite cute and he had a blast. I have to say he was a better driver than Mackenzie that night. I went on Space Mountain. Mackenzie chickened out at the last minute. Just me all by myself. After that we left and went back to the hotel room. It was around 10:30 or so. We got on our bus and let me just say it was the most awful bus ride I've ever been on. The driver was going so fast and swerving like a maniac. It was not cool at all. People were freaking out with every turn. Several times during the ride those around us tried to catch Lee since he was holding Jackson. It was not a fun ride.

When we got back to the hotel I went to the lobby and complained to the manager. I had gotten the bus number and the time of the ride. Several of us talked about his driving especially after more people had cleared the bus. It was scary and Jackson was freaking out. He kept saying he never wanted to ride the scary bus again. Not good for the 3 year old to be scared. I talked to one of the supervisors in the transportation department. He said that they would look into and since I was gave them a bus number and the time they could track it down.

Monday morning we got up and tried to eat breakfast with Lilo and Stitch. We were given the wrong time on our itinerary and it was too late. Thankfully the manager was really nice and arranged for the characters to come over and greet us. We were able to take pictures with all of them. It was really fun. I especially liked Mickey in his Hawaiian shirt.

I think we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. Yup, we did. We went to the Hall of the Presidents which I remember going to as a kid. Lee especially loved that. We then went to the Haunted Mansion. Very cute and Mackenzie ended up liking it. She was begging us before we got on the ride to not go. She thought it would be too scary. But of course she thought it was great. Jackson liked it too. We went on The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which Mackenzie enjoyed. It was a little jerky but we still had fun. We then went on Splash Mountain. Lee and Jackson sat out on that one too. Mackenzie loved it even though we were soaking wet.

We then headed over to eat lunch at the Crystal Palace. We got to eat with Winnie the Pooh and the gang again. We all had our pictures made once again. After we ate we left to go back to the hotel room. We had a late dinner at 9:30 at the California Grille on the top floor of the Contemporary Hotel. We were going to go back to the room and go to the pool. However, it started raining and storming really bad. We hung out in the room and then got ready for dinner. We took the bus to the tram to the hotel. We went to the top floor and the view was spectacular!

It was a very very nice restaurant. The meals were easily $100 a pop. All of my fears about it not being kid friendly were quickly dismissed when we saw lots of kids around. The even brought out Disney coloring pages for the kids. Some of the food was a little too upscale for me. I'm a plain Jane kind of girl when it comes to food. Lee at my appetizer for me. Well some of it. The kids Mac 'n Cheese came out first though. Oh my gosh! It was amazing! They made it with just milk and cheese. It was so good. Mackenzie fell asleep with her head down on the table. Jackson fell asleep right after we got our steaks. We both had the filet with a terriayki bbq sauce with pearl onions and mushrooms. Now that was fantastic! Jackson went to sleep in my arms while i finished eating.

Before they went to sleep we went outside to the observation deck to see everything. Now from the restaurant you could see over the park. It was gorgeous. Cinderella's castle was all lit up. The rides were still lit up too. You could see it all. It was a great place to dine. The dessert was of course fabulous too. Lee and I both ate it up. I have to say that meal was probably my favorite. We didn't get out of there until almost 11pm. We decided to take a cab to the hotel b/c I did not feel like walking from the tram to the bus then from the bus to our room. Jackson stayed asleep the whole was home. He even stayed asleep when I put him in the bed. He was definitely a tired little monkey.

Our last day there we went to the Animal Kingdom. We first ate lunch though at the Rainforest Cafe. I ate at the one in Dallas when I visited Bobbie. I ate there with her, Eileen and Tabitha. We had a great time there and I remember wishing the kids could be with me. I was so excited when we went there. Lee kept asking me what was so great about it and I told him just to wait and see. They all had a blast there. The monkey's came to life and the elephants too. The food wasn't too shabby either.

After that we went through the Animal Kingdom. We went on a walking tour and saw the Hippos, Gorillas and something else but I forget. We went on a safari ride and saw Elephants, Hippos, Rhinos, Alligators, Zebras, Giraffes, Lions, etc. That was really really neat. I loved looking at all of the animals. I only wished that the driver stopped for longer at each point. She never really stopped just slowed down slightly. I can appreciate that though when it came to the lions b/c they were not caged in. Just up on the landing area. Yeah, I guess they could've gotten us if they wanted to.

We all rode the big raft through the "river". We got soaking wet. Jackson was the only one who didn't like it. He did not like getting wet. He wanted to change his clothes. He complained the rest of the time about being wet. Mackenzie and I went on the Expedition Everest. Really cool roller coaster. It all had to do with the Yeti. At one point the road was closed on the mountain so we all ended up zooming backwards until we hit another track. Really fun ride and Mackenzie actually enjoyed it!

We left the park and went back to the hotel to get ready for our last meal. We went to 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian. We had dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, the evil Step-Mother and 2 Step-sisters. The food was okay but seeing the characters was great. Jackson was too shy to have his picture taken with Cinderella and Mackenzie was soooo embarrassed by Prince Charming. She wouldn't take her picture with him. That's okay though.

We got up Wednesday morning to head home and it was coooold! The warm and humid weather had left us. Lucky for us we were heading home. Before we left Orlando we ate at Bahama Breeze. The food was okay, not great, but okay. I was so ready to get home. We got home around 7:30 at night. I was ready to pass out. I was putting up laundry and unpacking suitcases when we got home. I'm still not fully caught up on my sleep. I wish I could go back to sleep for a bit longer. I actually have a terrible headache this morning. While I am typing this Lee and Jackson are in the den playing. It's an opportunity for me to rest. Instead I'm typing this.

So we had a great time. We're already planning our next trip there. I had a blast and cannot wait to go back. Neither can the kids!