Florida Vacay Phase 2: Walt Disney World

We got off the boat early Friday morning and booked it straight to Epcot.  Epcot was the area of Disney World that I remembered best from my trip there 18 years ago, but we all quickly realized that we were a bit more out of our element here than when we go to Disneyland.  We rarely remembered to grab maps and therefore rarely knew where the closest restrooms were, the best route to get where we wanted to go, etc.  We rode the major rides like Mission Space and Soarin' and explored some of the countries (China, Germany, and Japan) at the world showcase.  We ate lunch at Teppan Edo in the Japanese pavillion.  Leila had had a really rough night the night before and got pretty grumpy mid-afternoon.  So my parents took us Ziebarths to the rental house to rest up for the rest of the evening.  We let Leila crawl around like crazy, I got some work in, ordered a pizza, and watched some of the Olympics.

Jason plays the bongos...sorta

Strategizing

My Little Trooper

Where's Jason?

Scary Troll

 Saturday morning our little family took it easy again.  We slept in while everyone else went to Animal Kingdom (Jason only had a single-park pass for this day).  Then my parents came and picked us up in the afternoon and we met up with everyone at Hollywood Studios.  We were able to watch the Indiana Jones stunt show, hit most of the major rides (including Rock n'Roller Coaster, Star Tours (Ashley was the Rebel Spy!), Tower of Terror (SOOOO much better than California), Toy Story, and the Backlot Tour), and watched the Beauty and the Beast show.  We ate dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater which was awesome! The tables were all set into car bodies (or flying saucers for our big party) and they had a bunch of old cartoons/sci-fi clips playing on a giant movie screen.  Way fun!  We also got caught in the rain, and it wouldn't be the only time.  There was a thunderstorm most afternoons we were there.  Sometimes we were on our break at home and other times we were right in the thick of it.  They were certainly intense storms!

Singin' in the Rain

My Darling Hubby!

Sunday was a day to rest, recuperate,swim, and bid farewell to some of our group.  Jason, Ashley, and Taylor flew out that afternoon so that Jason and Taylor could get back to work.  I was a selfish wife and chose to stay and play another week.  Ashley and Taylor were supposed to fly out early in the morning but ended up missing their flight.  So we had one last family meal at IHOP and had time to snap a few family pictures before they had to go back to the airport.  I'd made a Belle dress for Leila and so she got some pictures taken too.

Monday we made our way to the Magic Kingdom (by far the most inconvenient to reach--you have to take both a parking tram AND the Monorail/Ferry Boats to get to the gate).  We felt more at home here, but I was still amazed at how different it is from Disneyland.  Everything is so much more spread out and there are a lot more attractions.  We hit the classics like Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Thunder, Buzz Lightyear, It's a Small World, Jungle Cruise, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pans' Flight, and Pirates of the Caribbean.  Each was familiar, but there were a lot of differences too.  Some I like better in California (Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Small World, and Pirates) while others I prefer the Florida version (Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, Haunted Mansion, and Big Thunder).  Then there were the "new" attractions (for me anyway) like Mickey's Philharmagic and Monster's Inc Laugh Floor (where my dad was picked to buy the entire audience churros).  Leila sported her Minnie Mouse sunhat and everyone was good to help me out with her.

Awww!

Creeper Jori

Most Boring Ride

Fell Asleep During the Fireworks

Tuesday we made our way back to Universal Studios with the intent of soaking up even more of Harry Potter.  Unfortunately the crowds kind of dampened our morning.  We still managed to have a good time though.  We revisted some areas of the park and met up with one of my mom's friends and her son and husband (the creator of RideMax).  The water rides were an absolute must since the sun was scorching and it was just as humid as ever.  Jared, Annie, my dad, and I all waited for what seemed like forever to go through Ollivander's wand shop (a 10 minute presentation).  The details that were put into everything were astounding, including some of the broomsticks that were used in the movies.  I made sure to buy myself a wand (a replicate of Ginny Weasley's) and more yummy butterbeer.  I counted the day a success and called it a day in the late afternoon along with my mom and Jori.

Longest Line Ever!

So worth the price of admission!

Wednesday was a park hopper day.  In the morning we went back to Hollywood Studios.  The Winters met up with us again and Jared was awestruck to be following a RideMax plan with the RideMax guru.  We made sure to hit all of our favorite rides (especially Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Roller Coaster) before going to lunch at the Primetime 50s Cafe--another really fun restaurant.  The setting was like a 50s home kitchen.  The waitress even yelled at you if you put your elbows on the table and made you finish your food (by spoon feeding you if needs be).

My helpers!

We wore this girls out, constantly

After a break at the rental house, we left Annie with Leila and went back to Epcot for a couple hours.  Even though we weren't there very long, we managed to get a lot in (thanks to RideMax).  We saw the Chinese acrobats, rode the rides for Norway and Mexico, visited the French and Moroccan pavillions, tasted sodas from around the world at Club Cool, and ended the evening with a journey on Spaceship Earth.  Annie did a great job babysitting and it was a good (much-needed) break for me.

Thursday was my day at Animal Kingdom.  This was a neat park but I feel like they could do a lot more with it.  We were only there half a day and I felt like we got most of the highlights in.  We rode Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, and Dinosaur.  We watched the Festival of the Lion King (which, as soon as I sat down in the theater I realized I'd seen before--in Hong Kong!).  We walked the treks to watch the animals and went on safari where we saw elephants, giraffes, tigers, rhinos, lions and more.

 The rest of the evening was spent packing and cleaning so that we could be 100% ready to leave the house early the next morning because our vacation was coming to a close and we were heading home--after a morning at Magic Kingdom.

Unfortunately the flights home weren't nearly as smooth as the flights out.  For starters, I was exhausted.  Leila doesn't sleep well when she's not in her own crib, so I hadn't had a good night's sleep in 2 weeks.  Leila wasn't doing great either.  She was cutting her top 2 teeth on the trip and she'd started to get a sore bottom and was pretty cranky first thing in the morning.  Little did I know it was a sign of things to come.  She must have caught some intestinal bug which resulted in her needing a diaper change every hour, which did NOT help her sore bottom.  She screamed her way all the way through airport security and had a couple meltdowns on the plane.  Thank goodness I wasn't travelling alone with her!  We didn't get into Salt Lake until midnight and therefore didn't make it home until after 1.  Boy, was I happy to be home with Jason.  And even more so that we got back on the weekend so he could take care of Leila for a couple of days before he had to go back to work.  Leila and I pretty much slept all weekend and it took her well over a week to get over her diarrhea/sore bottom.  Even so, it was still the vacation of a lifetime filled with memories that will be shared over the dinner table for years to come.