Orlando Family Fun

We had a blast!! The resort was perfect, the weather was perfect, the parks were spectacular and everyone was happy to be together in a magical place! I did have to hit Wal-Mart to buy a hoodie and jeans because it got cold at night.

Tony and I landed in Orlando Friday afternoon. We picked up the rental vehicle and went to the resort. After we dropped off our bags and checked on the kid's flight we headed off to Epcot. Tony went on a couple of crazy rides and we did a few that were more my speed lol. We left the park and headed to the airport to pick up the kids. Once we got to the airport there were no Air Canada flights, of course I started to get upset. Lucky for me to be married to Mr. Cool and he found a flight that had arrived from Denver. YIPEE, they arrived safe and sound.

The resort was awesome, enough room for everyone! After a good night sleep we hit the park running! Seriously I think we opened and closed each park we went to.

Animal Kingdom - one of my favourites! We did all the rides and took in the Lion King Show. It was pretty much the same as when we went in the early 2000s. But they did add a trapeze act with the monkeys. We went on this crazy water ride and it was ssssoooo much fun! Yes people, I was SOAKED and walked around the park with wet clothes. If I had brought another set of clothes I would have gone on it again. We went on a safari ride and took some amazing pictures, it was great! The Bug's Life show bothered Alycia a wee bit because it sprays water in your face. I think everyone had fun at this park.

Magic Kingdom - Wow, everyone (not me) went on all the roller coasters. Of course we wanted to ride Pirates but it was having mechanical issues, we decided to come back the next day. Josh and Alycia missed the Jungle Cruise because they wanted Space Mountain, Tony and Chris managed to do both. Thank God Small World was shut down because Tony would have insisted we ride it.

Universal Adventure - OMG where do I begin? The Hulk was one of the top roller coasters, I bet they went on that ride 10 times or more. There were so many rides that were simulators so of course I was ecstatic! I'm very happy when my feet stay on the ground lol. My favourite was all the Harry Potter stuff. We had Butter Beer, absolutely delicious but I can't begin to describe it. Kind of like a gingerbread slurpee with whipped cream on top but different. You just have to go and taste it yourself. I went on the main ride in Hogwarts but I kept my eyes closed, screamed every time I managed to peek and my back was in agony when we got off. The second time Tony and Chris went on it the ride everything went dark and they were stuck tilted back for a couple of minutes. For first timers they probably thought it was part of the ride I would have totally flipped out. I went shopping in downtown Hogsmeade and checked out the wand shop. No, I didn't buy one because not one of them picked me out lol. We had such a blast at this park.

Disney Hollywood Studios - Star Tours was my favourite ride, we went on it twice. Adam and I sat out on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror but he did go on Rock 'n' Roller Coaster featuring music by Aerosmith. We took in all the live entertainment, hit every single ride. Hecht I even sat in on an American Idol Experience. People visiting the park audition and they pick the top performers and have a grand finale sometime but I forget what the Ryan imposter said lol. It was fun to watch and vote using the handy dandy control. Apparently Carrie Underwood and Skyler from last season were finalist from Disney auditions. The big winner gets a front row pass at the auditions in Florida so it can be a big deal. Unfortunately the backlot tour was under regular maintenance, I really wanted to go on it. I made Tony go on the Little Mermaid ride and I took a ton of pictures because Alycia loves that movie. We ran out of time and missed the animation studio, had a blast there when we were here years ago. I thought Josh would love doing voice overs but hopefully we will get there again.

Universal Studios Florida - I went on the most rides at this park and was doing fine until I went on the Simpsons, my back was in agony again. Men In Black was a ton of fun and I beat Adam and Tony's score. Lucky for me Josh came in my car and told me what and when to shoot, so I had a little help. We went in this disaster ride and part of the show was getting a group of volunteers to act out scenes in front of a green screen. They were down to asking for the last volunteer and we twisted Christian's arm - the guy picked him. The volunteer before Christian was an older slightly chubby guy (named Chris) that was supposed to play a young hot male role. When Christian went on stage the other Chris switched places and the audience laughed. Christian had to act like he was terrified and falling in slow motion. At the end of the ride we watched the little disaster trailer for the "new Universal movie". It was great and the last scene was Christian falling down a cliff.

He has performed in NYC and Orlando, he wants to get a job as a cast member at either of the Disney parks. They had signs up advertising they were hiring new cast members, it would be a great experience. All the Disney employees appeared very happy at their jobs and so did Universal employees. Heck Toby and I could retire and work down there lol.

We left Wednesday and the kids had two more days. They went to Blizzard Beach and Epcot. It was so cold and windy their last day they hung out at the activity centre in the resort instead of hitting another park. They seemed to have enjoyed their last two days without us.

That will be our last family vacation until Tony's contract is up in Bermuda. He said people can holiday here since we have two spare rooms. When we are done here Tony said something about him and Christian going to The World Cup and then taking us all to England to show us where he lived before moving to Calgary. It sounds like it would be great and I'm getting much better with my fear of flying! Never took any Ativan at all this trip - that's a big deal for me!

I will be posting pictures on Facebook soon.