The first week of February we flew to Orlando, Florida to see Mickey and his friends whileTanner and Austin stayed behind with family friends to attend to their school work. We missed Tanner and Austin, but we called them every day to let them know how much fun we were having. (I am sure they appreciated that! No worries, they had their turn when they were in elementary school too.)
We hit four parks in four days and used the fifth day to go back to our favorite. It was such a fun week!
At the Magic Kingdom we got poured upon. Thank goodness Eric had packed everyone ponchos. (He is such a thorough trip planner. I love it becuase it allows me to sit back, relax and enjoy!) The rain didn't stop us, though it did stop everyone else. We didn't have to wait in any lines, and got to go on our favorite rides multiple times. At the end of the day, I was glad we had picked up some motion sick pills along with our groceries so I could get through the next four days.
Carson and McKenna are thrill ride maniacs. Unfortunately, Splash Mountain was closed so we only got to two of the three mountains in this park: Space and Thunder. That night we went to bed with high expectations of hitting a third mountain, Everest, in Disney's Animal Kingdom.
The morning began in Africa on Kilimanjaro's Safari. There were so many amazing animals to see. The weird weather must have made them anxious. They were all on the prowl. Eric was glad he got to see the wildebeests. Carson was charged by a white rinoceros and ostriches, and McKenna was particularly impressed with the size of the gray back gorillas on the nature hike following the safari. The gorillas are always my favorite too!
Leaving Africa we took a short stroll to Asia past the tree of life where we hit the Kali River Rapids (those ponchos came in handy again) and Carson and McKenna's soon-to-be, all-time favorite ride--Expedition Everest, in search of the mysterious Yeti. Of course everyone (even Marsha) waited until I was securely buckeled into the train and on the way up the hill before they told me, "Did you know this goes backwards?" I didn't find that very funny as you can see from my picture:
We also rode Dinosaur. This was a little intense for McKenna, so when Carson wanted to do it again she and Eric went to do some pin trading. It looks like I should have joined them and maybe taken the guy in the front row with me...
At Epcot we toured the land of the dinosaurs with Bill Nye the Science Guy, explored the power of imagination with Figment, and became Kim Possible secret agents in Paris, plus much, much more.
As for thrill rides, this park had them too. We had a great time on Test Track and a "blast" on Mission Space. I opted for the less adventurous side of the mission space ride and convinced Carson and Marsha to join me. I had too many friends warn me about this ride and how it had ruined the rest of their day. McKenna and Eric went for the full experience. We all loved it! I did go back later in the day and try the full force of rocketing away from earth and slingshotting around the moon, WOW! I am definately putting motion sickness pills on my gratitude list this year. The cinematography of this ride was beautiful. It is good I had that to focus on or I would have had to use the barf bags hanging on the seat belt halter. Where else could you get an experience like that without going through the real space program - leave it to Disney!
I was looking forward to Disney's Hollywood Studios. I love watching the live productions. The energy and work the cast members have to put in amazes me. I also love Rockin' Roller Coaster. I had to really gear up for this park knowing Carson and McKenna would not let me get away with only one ride on the Rockin' Roller Coaster, or the Tower of Terror, or Star Tours.
We took a little break from the rides to enjoy the Indain Jones Stunt Show. Eric was chosen out of the audience to be an extra. He was quite hillarious, especially when they asked him to act out a death scene.
By the end of the night we were all holding our stomachs.
That didn't stop us from going back to Animal Kingdom for our favorite park day and going on Everest again, and again and again. We also were able to hit some of the attractions we couldn't get to like Rafiki's conservation station the Asian nature trail and observatory and the oasis.
Our evenings were just as packed as our days. We had dinner with the Princesses, took in a dinner show at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue, and of course there were fireworks to see. It was trip we will always remember.
