Disney World 2009
Last week we went to Disney World with Daniel’s family, 22 of us total. The ride down there was just as long as usual, and with the traditional stop at Shoney’s for lunch. Lea got us lost trying to get to the hotel. But we did eventually get there, and it was sunny and everyone was happy. The hotel’s theme was “decades” so it was sectioned off into the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and so forth. We had a huge Big Wheel outside of our door…and fooseball! We walked around and took pictures of everything for a while, meeting rabbits and ducks on the way. It was nice to finally be there!
Sunday we went to the Magic Kingdom, the most walking we did the whole week. We got to ride Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion, the riverboat, It’s a small world, the go carts, and walked through the huge Swiss Family Robison treehouse! Not to mention the Carousel of Progess broke on us. It was outdated but really super to watch(says Lori, who loves creepy manequins and sets full of details like cups and ovens!) Adam and Daniel rode the water ride just as it was starting to rain, surely they had lots of fun, but Lori is a wimp and wouldn’t dream of riding it!
Monday we went to Hollywood Studios (MGM), lots of fun, until it started raining. We definitely bought ponchos. We managed to get in the car stunt show, Indiana Jones, andToy Story Midway Mania before it got too bad.
Tuesday we went to Epcot, but left early because of the rain. Lori was feeling terrible that day, but we managed to get in a few rides first. The ride inside the huge Epcot ball was definitely Lori’s favorite, and Daniel enjoyed….but kinda got sick on the Mission to Mars. Leaving early because of the rain was a great idea, it totally beat our butts that day! That night when the rain stopped we went out to Downtown Disney to see Star Trek and ate dinner at Waffle House. It was a great feeling to be the last ones to go to bed since we got teased for going to bed earlier than everyone else the first few nights.
Wednesday we went to Animal Kingdom. It was pretty outside when we got up so that was super exciting. We were able to go on the Safari and see the giraffes, elephants, and flamingos. This park really felt like we were in a rain forest, it was so grown over with vines and trees shading the pathways. Parrots and flamingos were everywhere! It was really beautiful. We met Grandma and PawPaw for lunch before it started raining again. We left after we saw A Bug’s Life 3D movie. On the way back to the bus it turned into monsoon-like rain. We had on ponchos and the umbrella pointed out in front of us. The wind was blowing the rain so hard that our umbrella almost turned inside out! Lori was laughing uncontrolably and Daniel thought his shoes would never dry. We almost hit a huge sign because we could not see anything. And then, while we were waiting on the bus to get back to the hotel, PawPaw calls because he lost Grandma in a store and has been waiting for her for an hour and he wants to leave. So Daniel went back in the park to find her…in the rain.
Thursday we went back to Epcot and it didn’t rain the entire day! Although Lori was scared out of her mind, we waited in line for Soarin, basically a swingset that lifts you up to a huge screen and makes it seem that you are flying high in the sky, over famous landmarks, cityscapes, and oceans. Lori did surprisingly well, and enjoyed it more than she ever imagined! Too bad we didn’t have time to do it again! We got to see the “Lands” fianlly, and we were in love! Paris, Morocco, Mexico, the UK…we walked to them all! Lori took about a million and a half pictures and we got to see this amazing Canadian band (who sounded Irish) called Off Kilter. It really perked our tired spirits, just in time for dinner at the Coral Reef. Weirdest lasagna in the entire world. The hardest too.
Friday we went back to Hollywood to see American Idol! It was so similar to the show. Even the host favored Ryan Seacrest! We also rode the Toy Story Midway Mania again, Lori was determined to beat Daniel this time, but she lacked the skill she needed in the ring tosses and darts. That ride was AMAZING, totally worth waiting in line! Next was the backlot tour, where Daniel volunteered and was named Captain! He had to steer the boat and act paniced! Lori stood at the sidelines taking pictures and waving at her courageous captain! After we got a few rides out of the way, we left and then almost went to Typhoon Lagoon but it started raining again so we went to Downtown Disney, not a better choice at all when it’s raining. We ran store to store trying to beat the rain, but it totally beat us. We saw a lot of cool sites like the new Dinosaur restaurant, and the Lego store. Eventually we made it to Disney Quest, a huge arcade that is free to enter with our park passes. The games were pretty outdated but we still had fun! Daniel sunk way more battleships than Lori!
That night, after the weather cleared up, we all went to the Polynesian Resort to the Luau for dinner. We took a nice family photo before going into the show. They made Daniel kneel down like a little kid. The food was nice (except for the dessert) and the show got better as it progressed. There were hula girls and guys and the fire twirler was really good! It was a good night for everyone and it felt GREAT outside. All the rain from the week really made us appreciate nice clear weather. We headed to MGM (or Hollywood) again with Adam and Daniel’s parents that night to ride Rockin Roller Coater, Tower of Terror, and stayed to see Fantasia, which we thought would be rained out! We started to leave because they kept pushing back the start time, and as we were walking out, they started the show! So we DID get to see it, Lori’s first time ever!
Saturday we left with the sun shining. Then about twenty minutes down the road it started raining again. It took us an extra hour and a half to get home beause all of the rain. Rain so thick you couldn’t see but thirty feet in front of you, if your lucky. Cars would pass us a little too fast and their splash would hit our windsheild, temporarily leaving us blindsighted. It was scary….and no one wanted to drive in it. Mark and Angel wrecked and thank God they were okay.
We finally made it home…to Ringo. Wesley had watched him all week, and he took great care of him! We were worried he would have forgotten us, but he was really excited to see us! We left him again after unpacking and ate at our favorite place….Moes.