Rudee loves Disney and we have a lot of great memories from past visits when the kids were small. I guess there really is some kind of magic going on here.
Tuesday morning we were up and out the door before the sun came up. We walked next door to the Burger King for a quick breakfast. When you stay at one of the Disney properties they give you a card similar to a credit card when you check in. This is the key to your room, entrance ticket to the parks and your card to redeem food on your meal plan. Each day one of the parks opens an hour early just for Disney guests and today it was Epcot.
We checked into our resort and picked up our cards. Our room wasn't available (expected, since it was 7:30 am) but we were able to park near the bus stop so we could catch the bus to Epcot.
Disney has a very extensive transportation system which is mostly buses. They are pretty well organized and the buses usually come every 10-15 minutes. True to form we didn't have to wait long and were on our way for first day in the parks.
We spent the morning riding the "popular" rides and then headed back into the "countries" of Epcot. There is a huge lake and around the lake are different themed areas of different countries around the world. All the shops, restaurants and entertainment is geared toward that particular country. We visited Canada, China, Great Britain, France, Mexico and of course the U.S.
Before we left Indiana Rudee had made reservations for some of meals. Tonight we were eating in Mexico. We found our restaurant and only had a short 10 minute wait for our table. The food was really good and as usual we shared an entree'.
The ticket package we purchased included 1 dinner, 1 quick service meal and 1 snack per person for every night you were staying. I wasn't sure how good this would work and was a little apprehensive on our first meal. You have to tell them you are "on the plan" when you sit down and I kind of figured there would be a lot of restrictions. I was pleasantly surprised when I could order anything from the "regular" menu.
Rudee and I shared a steak dish that included a stuffed roasted pepper and rice. The portions were huge and there was more than both of us could eat. We also got desert! I picked the bread pudding and it was very good but it was such a big portion we could only eat about 1/2 of it :-).
We hung around some more but were both pretty tired so we headed back to our room before the big fire works show.
Our room was pretty nice but had a "funky" kind of smell. I thought it was just the cleaning chemicals they used but Rudee thought it was more of a "musty" smell so she called and they came back in and sprayed some air cleaner around. Great, now it smells like "funky flowers" :-)
Wednesday morning Animal Kingdom Park was opened early so that was our first stop. We headed straight for the rollorcoaster "expedition Everest" and got a fast pass. These passes are pretty cool. You go to a special machine and stick your card in and a paper ticket pops out with a time on it. You return to the ride at your appointed time and go into a special entrance and go straight to the front of the line. Works pretty slick and gives you the opportunity to see more of the park and less of the back of the guys head in front of you in line :-).
We spent our time checking out the rest of the park and riding a couple of other rides. Our fast pass time came around and we got to ride the coaster and it was great. Lot's of ups and downs as well as some backwards ins and outs :-).
We grabbed a quick lunch and then left that park and hopped the bus to Hollywood Studios where we spent the rest of the afternoon. We never did make it onto the "rockin rollercoaster" but got to ride the "tower of terror" twice!
Our meal tonight was at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. Don't put your elbows on the table or "Mom" will yell at you! All in good fun of course :-).
Thursday morning we headed for the Magic Kingdom. Our sightseeing to today was a little slower, 2 full days in an amusement park was starting to take it's toll on my old butt :-).
We road a few rides and watched a nice show at the base of Cinderella's Castle.
We used our last "meal" for a nice lunch which included some of the Disney characters.
After lunch we did some shopping for souvenirs and then headed back to the car to start our drive back towards Tampa.
We made the drive across I-4 without any trouble, even saw a few 5th wheels moving around. I guess maybe some of the snow birds were heading back North a little early.
We checked into our motel and went to bed fairly early since we had an early flight.
Friday we drove the car back to the rental place to drop it off. We arrived at 5:40am and all the doors were locked and no lights on. Oh Oh, sign says open at 5 am but no one is here, The rental company (a division of Hertz) is in a small strip mall about 1/4 mile from the airport. No other business' in the complex were open this early either .... hmmmmm.
Rudee spotted another sign that said if we were there between 5am and 6 am and no one was there to just wait, they were dropping people at the airport. Well we waited and waited, and waited. Finally a van pulled up and it turned out to be the "early person" for the rental agency. She checked in our car and after watching me unload all our luggage decided that she would just drive our car to drop us off at the airport. Great, load everything back up .... thanks alot lady!
We had some issues getting through airport security, Rudee kept setting off the metal detector. Each time she tried to go through it would squeel and they would have her take off something and try again. She tried 3 or 4 times and kept setting the stupid alarms off. They finally had her remove her plastic belt and she breezed right through. Turned out the plastic for the belt was held together with a whole bunch of metal staples :-). Good thing they found it, couple of more times setting off the alarm and she would have been naked :-O
We had a great time in Florida. We did have some "responsibilities" to take care of but we also took some time from that to have some fun too.
The weather is starting to make a turn for the better and we are looking forward to real "spring" weather. I'll keep you posted.
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