Walt Disney World

We arrived in Florida on Monday, October 24, 2011 around 10:30pm. Derek and Nicole (the couple who's wedding we were there to attend) picked us up from the airport and we stayed at their house Monday night. On Tuesday, our good friend Lisa, who lives about an hour north of Melbourne, came to pick us up so we could spend some time with her and her husband, Scott. We went out to eat at a great BBQ restaurant and then shortly left to drive to Orlando. Scott was kind enough to lend us his truck for the week, so we were able to get around a little easier. We got into Orlando around 9:30 that evening and met Ryan, Meighan, and Riley at the hotel. We woke up on Wednesday morning around 7am and got ready for our first day at DISNEY!! Our original plan was to go to Epcot one day and Animal Kingdom the following day, but we were convinced to buy park hopper passes and visit ALL 4 parks in 2 days! Our first park was Hollywood Studios (MGM). We got to the park around 9:30am and went straight to Disney Junior - Live on Stage. This was a live show based on a number of different Disney Channel Shows for kids. It is a show that Riley loves so we started there before she got too tired. Our next stop was Tower of Terror while Meighan tried to get Riley to nap - unfortunately a nap did not happen, but the ride was awesome!! Our last ride at Hollywood Studios was Toy Story Mania. This is a 4-D ride/game that was so much fun! One of the best parts of the ride was actually the line leading up to the ride. The details were incredible!! We had to wait about 60 minutes for this ride, but it was totally worth it (and just so happened to be the longest we had to wait for any ride at any park).

The centerpiece of Hollywood Studios. 

From Fantasia.

Waiting in line for Toy Story. We make these glasses look good! 

We have a picture just like this from 2007...

...Ok, so maybe it is a little different! This is at Universal Studios in 2007.

We started getting hungry and decided to eat lunch at Epcot because the Wine and Food Festival was currently taking place. We got to Epcot around 1pm but had a hard time finding the special food so we ended up eating at the food court. After lunch, we decided to go to Test Track. This ride takes you through different tests for cars including heat tests, brake tests, and speed tests reaching up to 60 miles per hour! It was awesome! Our next stop was Soarin' so Meighan could ride something (she was 6 months pregnant) but the line was 70 minutes long so we decided to pass. Instead we walked over to the World Showcase to make dinner reservations and do some shopping. Kevin and I went off on our own for a little while and rode Mission Space which simulates zero gravity and a trip into outer space. When we got off we were pretty dizzy! Our next stop was an outdoor concert featuring Boyz II Men!! Boyz II Men was the first concert Kevin ever saw live, so it was awesome for him to see them again, and for me to have that experience with him! The concert was only about 30 minutes, but we certainly enjoyed it! We left the concert and went to dinner at the Chinese Pavilion. We spent some more time exploring the World Showcase and then made our way over to the Finding Nemo ride. Our last stop was Spaceship Earth which is inside the massive ball. This is a ride I remember from when I used to live in Orlando and go to Disney with my parents, and it was so great to create new memories with Kevin!! We left around 9pm that night, made a quick stop at the grocery store, and went back to the hotel. We crashed around 11pm so we could be well rested for one more day of fun!

The Epcot Ball! 

Shawn Stockman from Boyz II Men and The Sing-Off. 

A Classic!

Just us! Such a great day!

We woke up around 7am on Thursday and were at Animal Kingdom around 9:30am. Animal Kingdom is Disney World's newest park and is a park that neither Kevin nor I had ever been to. It was AWESOME! Kevin said it was probably his favorite park out of the 4. Our first stop was the Kilimanjaro Safari. This ride takes you on an African Safari to see all of the wildlife in the area. It was incredible how close the van got to some of the animals. The animals were obviously caged, but it was almost impossible to see the cages. It was an incredible aspect of the park. What is cool about this ride is that every time you go on it, it will be different, depending on which animals decide to come out. So fun! Our next stop was Mt. Everest! This is a roller coaster that is shaped like Mt. Everest. It starts out like a "normal" roller coaster, but ends up moving backwards. It was a very pleasant surprise! And the wait was only about 20 minutes. It was another ride in which the line was just as entertaining as the ride. It was incredibly educational! After Everest, we went to see Finding Nemo the Musical. Riley enjoyed the Nemo ride so much the day before, that we thought she would enjoy the musical as well. She enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as Kevin and I did! It was incredible!! It was a much smaller version of Broadway, but I could definitely see it making its way to the Great White Way in the future. The costumes and special effects made me fell like I was in New York! SO awesome!! We had pizza for lunch, rode Dinosaur while Meighan and Riley rode Triceratop Spin (the equivalent on Dumbo), made our way back to Everest and then went over to Magic Kingdom around 2pm.

Our Safari vehicle.

Little Giraffes. 

A baby elephant!!

The Tree of Life - the centerpiece of Animal Kingdom.

A close-up of The Tree of Life. Look closely and you can see all kinds of animals. 

Meighan, baby girl, Riley, and Ryan in front of Mt. Everest!

Riley, Kevin and I in front of Everest and an awesome Tibetan Sculpture. One of the things Kevin liked most about this park was all of the incredible sculptures.

Marlin and Dory from Finding Nemo the Musical. 

We parked our car at one of the Disney Hotels and then rode the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom. Our first stop at the Magic Kingdom was Pirates of the Caribbean. We walked through the switchbacks and right up to the front of the line with out any wait! Unfortunately, we experienced some technical problems while we were on the ride, but it made for a unique experience. The next stop was the Haunted Mansion and again there was no wait AND more technical problems. We sat in the same spot for about 5 minutes waiting for the ride to get fixed. Fortunately everything was fixed in a rather timely fashion and we enjoyed the ride with no other problems. We attempted to ride Peter Pan next, but the wait was over an hour, so we grabbed a snack instead and then watched the show in front of the castle. After the show, we went to ride Thunder Mountain, but that ride was also experiencing some technical problems so it was flat out closed. I was shocked at how many rides were having issues over the 2 days we were at the parks (the day before we couldn't ride the Rockin' Roller Coaster either because it was getting repaired). We decided to go over to Space Mountain and although the wait time was about 45 minutes, we decided to ride! By the time we got off Space Mountain we were out of time for the day. It was almost 7:00pm and the park was closed to guests who had not paid EXTRA money to celebrate Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We tried to stay, but quickly found out you had to have a special wristband and you could only get that with the purchase of a new ticket. Fortunately, we were all pretty exhausted at this point anyway, so we drove back to the hotel to relax! Our plan is to go to the Halloween Party next year (2012) without any kids so everyone can enjoy the fun! Our time at Disney was amazing, as was the company!! We certainly look forward to going back again as soon as our pocket book will allow! 

Such an incredible castle!

Hanging out at the gallows. 

Mickey and Minnie!

The park transforming for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween. You can see some of the guest in their costumes. 

We left the hotel around 10am on Friday morning to participate in all of the wedding festivities. The rehearsal was Friday afternoon, followed by the rehearsal dinner. We went out to a few bars after dinner to celebrate before the big day. The wedding was Saturday afternoon, officiated by Carl - one of our officiants, and we had a great time catching up with old friends. We took a few people to the airport on Sunday, spent the evening in Mims with Scot and Lisa, and flew home early Monday morning (Halloween). It was a great week!

Long-time friends! Tony, Kevin, Molly, Carl, and Derek.