On Thursday of our long-past vacation, we got the kids up bright and early to head to Magic Kingdom. Grandma, Grandpa, and Melissa didn't get to the hotel until 2 in the morning, so they slept in and met us later. After a quick breakfast, we got on the hotel shuttle and made our way to the park. One empty wallet later, we had our four passes to the park--hooray!
Ohh, the anticipation is killing us!
We headed straight to Fantasyland and did some of the "must" rides, like the spinning teacups, Snow White (Sammy refused, too scary), Winnie the Pooh. Then we headed over to Tomorrowland for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin--this was the all-around favorite of the day, and we came back several times. Eventually the grandparents got there, and waited with Zeke while we did Space Mountain, which Sammy and Riley loved! (They are much less scared about roller coasters than I was at that age!) After lunch we went to Adventureland and Frontierland, where the boys loved the Jungle Cruise (although the animals there were a little scary, too). Bruce and I loved the pineapple ice cream (Dole Whips). Sadly, Splash Mountain was closed for maintenance--huge bummer. Zeke's favorite ride of the day was the carousel, even with all those other amazing Disney rides around. Mom and I both took half an hour to ride with him over and over while everyone else went on their favorite rides a few last times. It was while we were waiting for him to finish a ride that Riley got lost, yes, LOST in Fantasyland! What a scary 5 minutes! Luckily, we found him waiting in line for Dumbo the Flying Elephant all by himself, very safe and very much in trouble. If only this had been the only time he wandered...
Zeke's very favorite ride.
Hmm, no one can get lost while they're behind bars...
Dumbo the Flying Elephant.
We were surprised no one fell out of the boat on the Jungle Cruise.
So much fun to be here with Grandma, Grandpa, and Melissa!
Heading up the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.
Grandma loved going on rides with the kids.
Waiting for "Mickey's Philharmagic" to start.
Zeke's other favorite ride--the escalator.
Last ride of the day.
The next day, we had a lovely time at SeaWorld, except for the two minutes Riley got lost again. He went back to talk to the pearl divers (who hold their breath for 10-15 minutes at a time), and we found him fairly quickly. We loved all the SeaWorld shows, especially the whales and dolphins. Unfortunately, SeaWorld is enormous, and there's a lot of walking with not much in between. We were all very tired. Bruce and Melissa mustered up enough courage to ride the Manta Ray roller coaster, however. The ride hangs the cars upside down, from the bottom of the track. They said it wasn't as scary as it looked. And Sammy liked the Journey to Atlantis (like Splash Mountain), except for the creepy Atlantis people inside the cave part of the ride.
Zeke was a little confused by the splashing whales.
Our new friends.
Not too scary with a 3-inch thick pane of glass between us.
Bruce and Sammy after a successful splashdown.
At least we didn't lose anyone...permanently.
On Saturday morning, we met John at the Kennedy Space Center. It was not quite as thrilling for the boys as the theme parks, but they seemed to enjoy it anyway. Bruce and I liked the bus tour to various buildings. The boys liked seeing a bald eagle and an alligator from the bus windows. We watched a 3-D iMax movie about the moon landing. Even though we'd seen several 3-D cartoons at Disney, Zeke was somewhat freaked out by the 2-story tall 3-D astronaut that appeared suddenly on screen, and he cried out "Movie get Zeke! Movie get Zeke!" in a panic. I didn't panic until after the movie, when we went to get lunch and Riley got mad at me so he ran away (in a huge cafeteria and museum filled with hundreds of people). It took about 10 minutes to find him, hiding in the men's bathroom. This one got him in trouble since it was on purpose, and at a place not nearly as lost-kid-friendly as DisneyWorld (and fraught with alligators, as well). After the Space Center we wandered out to Cocoa Beach for half an hour, but it was cold and stormy so we didn't stay long. Our fried seafood dinner was fabulous, though.
Sammy wants to wear this suit someday, and be the first person to set foot on Mars.
On the moon.
Uncle John was the coolest guy around.
Sammy, zoned out at the beach.
There were always plenty of birds to chase.
Sunday afternoon was heavenly, because we managed to get Zeke a real nap in a real bed. Then we had a yummy dinner graciously hosted by John at his small apartment which is not meant to handle three rambunctious boys! He served us roast beef and lots of vegetables (the perfect antidote to 10 days of fast food), and the most delicious fresh-squeezed orange juice. We celebrated Riley's birthday with a huge Costco Key lime pie and a noisy Buzz Lightyear laser gun. The miracle is that no food or drink ended up ground into John's beige carpet, and no expensive electronic equipment was broken. Thanks John!
Happy birthday to Riley!
On Monday, Grandma and Grandpa and Melissa went back home. We wished we could as well, because we were all thoroughly tired of vacation. (Did I mention we changed hotels four times?) But we headed to Disney Hollywood Studios, half-terrified that Riley would get lost yet again when our adult to kid ratio had decreased by three adults. After we threatened to cancel his birthday for the next 10 years, he behaved and stayed close all day. Bruce and I enjoyed the Tower of Terror and the Aerosmith roller coaster (fastest roller coaster around, I've heard). The boys loved Woody's Wild Ride, which got up to a 2-hour wait time later in the day. Sammy was deathly afraid to try the Star Tours ride, but once I finally dragged him on it he loved it and we went back twice. Sadly, Zeke couldn't ride many of the rides at Hollywood, and didn't get much out of all the shows. We decided Magic Kingdom is definitely the best option for little kids. We'll just have to go back when the boys are all teenagers.
The awesome Toy Story soldiers were our favorites.
We got to meet our heroes!
If this thing wasn't cemented in, it would have been a childhood dream come true for Bruce.
Why am I soaking wet? Oh yeah, it rained all day!
Oh, did I mention it rained on us ALL DAY at Hollywood? Usually just a drizzle, but sometimes a downpour. We kept thinking Florida storms never lasted very long, but we found the exception. We were all soaked through by the end of the day, but at least it wasn't very cold. We couldn't muster up enough energy for a real restaurant, so even though we had waffles every morning for breakfast at the hotel, we chose Waffle House for a very late dinner that night. I have to say those were the best waffles I've ever eaten in my life! (I found a knock-off of their recipe online, if anyone's interested.)
We were so thrilled to go home on Tuesday!!! 10 days was long enough, but day 11 and 12 made our trip officially too long. We packed up all our still-wet clothes (Have I mentioned how humid it was, even in the winter? Nothing dried out at all!), and had a nice, uneventful plane ride home. Except that Zeke didn't sleep much. The boys were so happy to climb into their own beds and leave vacation behind. Whew!
P.S.-I think it took about two hours for me to write this post and add pictures. I hope you enjoyed every word!
3 comments:
I did read every word--and enjoyed it all! So much has happened since the trip that I'd kind of forgotten how much fun it was. We should do it again sometime (but probably not for a few years!).
I too enjoyed every word. Sometimes you have to wondered if all the time and energy put into each blog post is worth it. But... it is. Glad you had fun. My boys are going to be extra jealous when they see who you got to meet.
Makes me want to go to Disneyland again. I just can't convince anyone in my family to join us.
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