Vacation! This past week was spent at Disney World and oh what an awesome, amazing, fantastic, very fun, welcome break from real life it was!
We drove down to Florida on Sunday, explored our pretty hotel (Port Orleans Riverside) then spent some time at Downtown Disney before our dinner reservations at Planet Hollywood. We had gone with the meal plan option and boy did we eat really really well during the vacation! (except maybe Tyler whose picky eating meant a few struggles when food came out of the kitchen different than he had expected) We had reservations for a difference fancy restaurant every day and it was so much fun.
Our first day in the parks was Monday where we experienced the Animal Kingdom. We tackled Expedition Everest first, which had Kaitlyn scared long before she even got on the ride. But the Safari was a big hit - we went on it twice and had the good luck to see the animals when they were active and right up close to the vehicle. Even the crocodiles (or alligators?) were moving around. Other highlights were the Lion King show (Disney puts on fantastic shows) and meeting the characters for lunch at Tusker House.
Tuesday was spent at the Magic Kingdom and was probably my personal favorite. There are just so many different things to see and do.
We had a lot of great interactions with the characters and some really funny and memorable moments.
The little monkey was pretty happy with the kiss mark until we told him wiping it off would make a mess. He spent the rest of the day walking on Sam's right side so that other people wouldn't get a good look at it.
Tuesday was one of the longer days as we stayed to watch the electrical parade, the castle show, and the fireworks - all well worth the wait.
Wednesday was Epcot! There was some nostalgia on this one as the ride in the Epcot ball is where Sam and I first got together almost 16 years ago (wow that makes me feel old!).
We also had a lot of fun with the characters (Dale stole Tyler's hat and really had us all laughing) and the rides. I think "Soarin" was everyone's favorite of the trip (well maybe not Sam, he likes the big rollercoasters). We also stayed for the fireworks/light show on the lake and Tyler was so tired he fell asleep as soon as we sat down on the bus ride home.
We enjoyed Hollywood Studios on Thursday, our last full day of vacation. Once again we scared the kids right out of the gate with a ride on the Tower of Terror (surprisingly Tyler disliked it more than Kaitlyn) then had some fun meeting characters, riding the rides, seeing the shows (the stunt show was amazing) and other attractions, and lunch at the fun Sci-Fi Drive in Diner. We were worn out by this time so instead of staying for the night show, we headed back to the hotel around 4 for some time in the pool.
