Saturday, December 6, 2008

Disney World recap

I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get this out and that I've been so out of the loop. I've been super busy with work, orders, Skyler's school, Christmas, you name it! I wanted to get this recap written down before I forgot all about our trip!

Day 1: Magic Kingdom and Epcot
On our first day we woke up bright and early and headed over to Magic Kingdom to be there when it opened at 10. If you've never been to Disney World, you arrive at the "Transportation Center" where either you park or a shuttle drops you off. Then you can get on either the monorail to take you to Epcot or the Magic Kingdom or you can get on a ferry to take you to Magic Kingdom. We chose the Ferry and it was a beautiful view from the dock.

We've been to Disneyland multiple times so we knew most of the rides at the Magic Kingdom but what we didn't expect was for those familiar rides to be different. It was so strange riding Pirates of the Carribean or The Jungle Cruise and to have them be different than the ride we've been riding all our lives! Here's Skyler and Steve on Thunder Mountain Railroad:


After spending a while at MK we took the monorail over to Epcot. We didn't have a lot of time but managed to ride a few rides and have dinner in Japan.

It was FREEZING in Florida but we still had a good time.

Day 2: Hollywood Studios

After arriving in Hollywood Studios we immediately went straight for the Tower of Terror (which last year was Skyler's favorite ride at Disneyland). She was so excited to go again. I think she forgot what it was all about because after getting off she was so terrified she probably didn't talk for about 20 minutes! She said she would NEVER go on it again! Toy Story Mania is a really fun ride but probably our longest line we had to wait in. You get to wear 3D glasses though which is always fun.


We also discovered Skyler's new favorite ride, The Rockin' Roller Coaster. She's never been on an upside down roller coaster and this one goes upside down 3 times! We went on it 4 times that day.



Day 3: Downtown Disney, Magic Kingdom

We had special tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas in the evening so we spent the afternoon at Downtown Disney having lunch and shopping. Then over to Magic Kingdom for the party. They had free hot chocolate, cookies, and apple slices,


a special Christmas parade (which we were front row for), a special lighting of the castle,


(Skyler thought this was pretty cool!)


and SNOW on Main Street! It was a lot of fun getting to go to a special party. We've never done anything like that before. Oh, did I mention it was cold? Skyler is wearing 2 sweatshirts in this picture!



Day 4: Animal Kingdom

We started out at Animal Kingdom by going on the safari ride which was cool to see some animals a little closer up than you would at a zoo. Then it was off to Skyler's new favorite ride, Expedition Everest!
We went on this ride 5 times this day. We really got good at figuring out how to go on a ride as many times as possible. Skyler even met a friend in line and after much sweet talking, got her dad to let the two girls ride together on the ride. I'm so sad we didn't get her contact information because Skyler talked about her for 3 days straight!

I think this was our favorite park. The streets are decorated exactly like they would look in Africa or Nepal. It's just amazing. You really feel like you're there. We could have spent a lot more time here.


Day 5: Hollywood Studios and Epcot

At this point we were just trying to get to everything that we hadn't seen the first time around. We saw a couple of shows and went on a few rides. We were able to go on Rockin' Roller Coaster 3 more times bringing our total up to 7 times on this ride! Then it was back over to Epcot. We tried to get reservations to eat at some fun restaurants but everything was booked so we ended up having fish and chips in the UK. Steve was happy with his Guiness!


Day 6: Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom

This was our last day in the parks. We started out by getting fast passes for Everest, meeting all the characters and getting Skyler's face painted,


looking at a few animals, and then grabbing some lunch. While we were getting situated and josteling food I looked over and spotted a friend of mine, from California, and her entire family! I knew they were going to Disney World and that this would be their first day in the parks. I assumed they'd start in the Magic Kingdom and I had left her a message but didn't hear back from her. How random that we would run into each other! We managed to go on Everest another 4 times bringing our grand total to 9 times! This was everyone's favorite ride! Then it was back over to the Magic Kingdom for one last whirl wind around the park. Skyler decided she wanted to stand in line to see the princesses. She's never done this before so we let her. She was so excited!


Here's my summary: it was really cold, really hard to get around (the monorail only goes to 2 out of the 4 parks), and really tiring. We had fun but I think we'll stick to Disneyland from now on!