Tripping to Disney - long version

So we took the girls to Disney World. Considering that Greg has been wanting to take them there since Allie was 4, I think holding out until her 8th birthday was pretty good. Honestly, I wouldn't have wanted to take Julia any earlier than age 4 1/2. She had so much walking to do and Greg ended up carrying her so much--thank goodness she's 40 inches tall now, so she could go on almost any ride, and she did!

When we left Wisconsin, it was -6 degrees. We ran in our light jackets from the parking garage into the airport and it HURT! I told the girls they wouldn't have to face cold like that again until we came home and after 20 minutes or so, we warmed up. The girls were both very excited about going up in an airplane.

Our flight to Atlanta was smooth, we didn't have any transition trouble, and then we landed in Orlando. Since we stayed on Disney property, we were coddled from that point forward (as long as you consider bus travel coddling). Our resort was almost exactly as we expected, except since Pop Century has over 2000 rooms, it was even more spread out than I thought. Three heated outdoor pools, and believe me, even when the evening temperature dipped into the low 50s, there were people in the pools. That first evening, we went to the Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks show, Wishes. Even though it was kind of a late night by the time we got a bus back, it was definitely a "magic" start to our holiday.

Our first full day was spent at Hollywood Studios. We went on or saw: Star Tours (a Star Wars simulation); Muppet Vision 3-D; Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set; Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show; met the Power Rangers; Hollywood Studios Backlot Tour; the Great Movie Ride; Voyage of the Little Mermaid; the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (me and Allie); dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant; and Sounds Dangerous with Drew Carey. Greg really wanted to go on the Aerosmith Rock n Roller Coaster, but he would have had to go alone.

The Tower of Terror was amazing and Allie was so brave. It's basically a falling-elevator ride (from 13 stories), but they actually pull you downwards faster than gravity and you drop and rise several times, according to a random computer selection. Allie said it was cool, but that was after she relaxed the expression of terror that was her face. We completely rose off our seats for what seemed like long periods of time, held only by our seatbelts.

The second day we went to Animal Kingdom. We went on or saw: Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends (a nature/singing show with real animals); Festival of the Lion King (a show with amazing floats and up to 28 singers/dancers/acrobats performing at one time); met Minnie Mouse, Mickey, Lilo, Stitch, and Goofy; DINOSAUR; Finding Nemo - the Musical; Expedition Everest (Greg only); Maharajah Jungle Trek; Kilamanjaro Safaris (our longest wait, about an hour); It's Tough to be a Bug; and Rainforest Cafe (for dinner). Julia and Allie both closed their eyes for most of DINOSAUR, a very rough ride in a jeep thing with dinosaurs popping out everywhere. They were both really good.

The third exhausting day was spent at the Magic Kingdom. We went on or saw: The Magic Carpets of Aladdin; the Jungle Cruise (which was hilarious, thanks to David, our guide); Pirates of the Caribbean; met Peter Pan and Wendy; Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (which Julia proclaimed, "Cool!"); the Haunted Mansion; It's a Small World (what a surprise, one of Julia's favorites); Peter Pan's Flight; Mickey's PhilharMagic 3-D Spectacular; Cinderella's Golden Carousel; Mad Tea Party; Tomorrowland Indy Speedway; Space Mountain; Dumbo the Flying Elephant (another of Julia's favorites); Stitch's Great Escape; Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor; Tomorrowland Transit Authority (the only thing we went on twice); Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress (weirdly fascinating); Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin; and dinner in Cinderella's castle, at the Royal Table, while fireworks exploded outside the arched stained glass windows and the Fairy Godmother sang Happy Birthday to Allie (and lots of other people).

I was surprised by how small the Magic Kingdom was, but it obviously enabled us to cover a lot of ground and see a lot of things. Splash Mountain was closed, but the weather during our trip was sometimes cool (relatively speaking), so we didn't mind. It rained a little when we were at Hollywood Studios but we were mostly inside. It was cold in the morning at Animal Kingdom, but it warmed up nicely in the afternoon and was sunny. The Magic Kingdom day was nice too, probably low 70s and sunny.

Our last big day was Epcot. We knew it was going to be the warmest day, mid 70s, so we decided to make it a short day, return to the resort, and have the girls go swimming. At the park, we went on or saw: Spaceship Earth; Test Track (cars that go 65 miles per hour--Julia was so brave!); Maelstrom; Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (met Cinderella again, Aurora [Sleeping Beauty], Jasmine, and Ariel); Mission SPACE (Greg and Allie); Gran Fiesta Tour (me and Julia); Living with the Land; The Seas with Nemo and Friends; and Turtle Talk with Crush. It would have been nice to visit the United Kingdom pavilion to see if they carried Coleman's mustard, but it was just too far to walk with crabby Julia, who didn't get birthday presents like Allie and who just couldn't narrow down her own gift selection to one item.

We left Epcot at 4 and the time the girls spent swimming and splashing at the pool was one of the most relaxing periods we had. We ate dinner, the girls had baths, and we packed to go home. If you did make it all the way through, I appreciate your reading all of the stuff about the attractions we saw. I wrote it to remember what we did, and maybe to spark a favorite memory of something you saw once upon a time.

Our trip back was smooth, except that in order to get seats all together, we were in the last row of the plane, without windows. Allie got airsick and threw up in my hands and Julia was kind of naughty and it was -2 degrees when we arrived in Milwaukee. Allie threw up again as we drove home, and we all had to smile at Greg emptying her puke bucket by the side of the road and "rinsing" it with snow. We were so glad to be home and the cats were very glad to see us.

One anecdote: we were tiredly walking through the parking lot on our last night when we saw a VW bug with North Carolina plates and a carseat in the back. I commented, wow, those people drove all the way from North Carolina with a baby in the back seat. Julia spoke up and said, Is it dead?

You hadda be there. We had the best laugh of the trip.

Now we're basically all back in our normal routines and the weather is certainly back to how it's been this winter. We're supposed to get somewhere between 3 and 9 inches of new snow tomorrow. But we can dream and remember, green plants and flowering trees, chlorine and waiting in line, princesses and a birthday to remember. Happy birthday, Allie!