Eat, Drink & Be Merry: March 2009

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Epcot & Universal Studios

Brad and I went to Universal Studios on the 3rd dayof our trip, and his parents kept Jack for us. It was like a little date day, and we had lots of fun. We woke up early(ofcourse) and caught the shuttle there. We were a little unsure if we would be able to do both parks in one day, but we did it with no problem at all because the parks weren't crowdedat all! We did the first Universal Studios park first. We watched the Shrek 4-D show....which was soooo much fun, then we rode the Return of the Mummy ride which was really fun too! The Simpsons ride was BY FAR the best though! A few other highlights were the JAWS ride, Disaster(which was pretty cool too), and Men in Black(which we weren't that impressed with). Then we headed to Islands of Adventure and rode the Incredible Hulk Coaster right away...which was crazy amazing! We did a 3-D Spider Man ride which was really cool too. Last but not least was the dueling dragons(2 rollar coasters going at once) rollar coaster which has a point where it looks like you will run into the other rollar coaster...very cool and scary.

On our last day we went to Epcot! We of course rode in the big Spaceship Earth(the famous Epcot icon), and we also did a few other rides that were fun too. The best was Soarin' though! It was like you were hang gliding over all of California! It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Epcot has an aquarium area too...where we saw marine life and watched a "Finding Nemo" inspired ride which was lovely :) Then off to the world showcase we went. We ate in Morocco(mmmm Chicken Schwarma) and Mexico. It was really nice just walking around and seeing the people from all the different countries! That night we watched Epcots big night show...Illuminatoins: Reflections of the Earth....it was awesome!

Illumniations

Lady and the Tramp in Italy

Italy...so pretty

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Travelin' Man

Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom was...lovely. Everything was manicured to a perfection....and it was really a magical place to be. All the rides and shows were great...I loved the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor! It was really funny. Just walking around the castle and down Main Street was the best though, but above all was the "Wishes" Fireworks show at the end of the night in front of the castle. It was beyond beautiful...I never knew a firework show could be so amazing...and again magical. Right before the fireworks show was a parade which was pretty great too. (Please excuse the order of the pics....)

Ferry boat

Night parade

Bibbity Bobbity Boo!

Before the parade and fireworks the castle was changing colors.

Oh Cinderella...what a lucky girl!

On Daddy's shoulders getting blinded by the sun.

This is the photo that shows you what Jack's face looked like throughout the whole trip....he was amazed and in a trance!

Riding the ferry!

On the train headed to Frontierland where Thunder Mtn. and Splash Mtn. are!

Mickey Mouse and other characters at the morning welcome show at Magic Kingdom!

Brad and his Dad on the train!

One family got to ride on the train into Magic Kingdom with all the characters and be a part of the welcome show!

At the gates of Magic Kingdom

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Hollywood Studios

Day Two: We decided to go to Hollywood Studios because Fantasmic(a nighttime laser and light show) was going to be playing that night. This was one of my favorite parks. They had the new Toy Story ride which was 4D and a total blast. We watched the American Idol Experience which was just like American Idol and so much fun! There were so many fun things...from 3D shows, stunt shows, musicals to rollarcoasters. Everything exceeded my expectations. Above all though was Fantasmic, the night show! It was truly amazing and well worth waiting for after a long filled day at the park.

All the characters dancing and singing on the boat at the end of Fantasmic!

Brad and his Mom

Landscaping like this was all around the park...it was beautiful!

My little family of three.

Micka Mouse ears are so much fun

Getting ready for a 3D show!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

We're back :)

After two amazing weeks we are back home! We spent one week in Disney World and another in Indiana visiting Mary(Brad's sister) and her family. We had soooo much fun, and it was awesome having Brad with us every day all day. I have so many pictures and so much to say so I decided I'm going to blog about one day each day. Each day in Disney consisted of waking up bright and early to catch an eight o'clock shuttle to the park. The parks didn't open until 9 am, but getting in line early was key to getting to the high demand rides right away and getting fast passes so you could return at a later time and not wait in line. We stayed at every park until closing, which was between 8 pm and 10 pm. Every day was packed and it took all day to do and see everything, which we did! I made schedules for each day by using different Disney guides at Barnes and Noble which made things run very smoothly and efficiently and allowed us to get through everything at each park in one day. Jack did so well throughout the whole trip. He loved staring at everything....especially all the bright lights many shows had. He also learned some new tricks while we were away which include....half way blowing kisses, associating "mama" and "dada" with us, and army crawling which turned into real crawling yesterday! Overall, the trip was more than I ever imagined....so so so magical. I can't wait to bring my littles ones back one day!

The first day in Disney we decided to go to Animal Kingdom. A few highlights were Expedition Everest, an African Safari ride through the savannah with real beautiful animals, and a few shows which were all must sees: Its Tough to Be a Bug, Finding Nemo, Flights of Wonder(a bird show), and the Lion King. The Lion King show reminded me alot of a Cirque de Soleil show....it was AMAZING with live music, elaborate costumes, and acrobats. The bird show was pretty cool too. It was really neat how trained these birds were especially since they aren't kept in cages ever. They said they don't have to cage them because they are so well trained and like being there so they stick around rather than fly away.

All ready to go! I definitely suggest bringing your own stroller to Disney World. The ones you rent cost $15 a day and they are hard plastic seats. Having our stroller was awesome b/c we were able to recline the seat for Jack to take naps during the day.