Boy howdy! I'm back at work now cry: ) and finally caught up enough to start my trip report. Photos are coming, dear readers, but not today. Give me a break!
FYI: I am a firm believer of enjoying one's vacation. Because of that, we rarely got to a park before 10 a.m. unless I had reservations for something before that. I reveled in sleeping in late.
Saturday, May 27:
Drove about 13 hours to Orlando from Louisiana. Got stuck for about 45 minutes in Mobile because a minivan caught fire. We drove by the smoking shell. Pretty scary. Hope whoever was in that car was OK. Arrived to Saturday night I-Drive traffic, so I weaved through one parking lot and another until I got to our hotel. Unpacked the car, ate and we hit the sack.
Sunday, May 28
Spent the day at Discovery Cove. Great weather. Spent morning floating down the river (twice) because it's my son's favorite. Stopped in aviary section of river and just watched the birds. One kept flying down and landing on the lifeguard's shoulder. Lunch was great and we didn't have any trouble with crowds to get it. We spent part of the afternoon in the lagoon with the tropical fish. That water is COLD!! Saw some beautiful fish and tried to take photographs of some. It would be really nice if fish could pose for photos. We also took two more floats down the river again. No dolphin swim this year. We did spend some time watching the dolphins, though. One funny thing: I had to convince D.J. that he could go up to the snack bar and just take a package of cookies and get a drink. He thought he would be stealing and, no matter how many times I told him, I couldn't convince him that I'd already paid for everything.
Monday, May 29
Memorial Day. Went to Seaworld as part of our Discovery Cove package. The place was packed and it was mucho humid. We walked around for a short time, took in the penguins and sharks. We left around noon and came back to hotel. Son was tired and took short nap after lunch. Around 4 p.m., we headed to MK. We hopped on the train first. Son is a huge train buff. We rode full circle and then got off at Mickey's Toon Town Fair. We headed over to the TTA for a spin. My heart dropped when we rode through Space Mountain and the lights were on. We also hit It's a Small World, Philharmagic, the TTA again and Haunted Mansion. The Doombuggies stopped while we were riding through the graveyard. That was a first for me. Then we heard someone over an intercom telling us not to leave our Doombuggies and we'd be moving in a few. Don't know if they were offloading some who was wheelchair-bound or what, but it was kinda cool. We were on our way in maybe two minutes. Next, went to It's a Small World just because I couldn't start my WDW trip without hearing the song. Later, we grabbed a spot at the Tomorrowland entrance to watch Wishes. Once Wishes was over, most of the crowd cleared out of the park and we were able to get a great spot for Spectro.
Tuesday, May 30
Went to MGM for short while. Hit Backlot Tour, LMA, One Man's Dream, Great Movie Ride and walked through lots of shops. Huge lighting rig set up in front of "the hat" but have no idea why. (Note: A few days later, a sign was up that said 'hot set.' The next time we were at MGM, the whole rig was gone.)
Wednesday, May 31
Spent day at Universal Studios. We did everything but Jimmy Neutron. We ate lunch at Monster Cafe. Food not too great, but loved the theme. The Mummy was awesome, as always. We enjoyed the Horror Makeup Show, too. The park wasn't that crowded. Most rides had little to no wait. The exception was Men in Black. We waited over an hour for that one. And no, I had no intention of buying an Express Pass Plus.
To be continued ...
FYI: I am a firm believer of enjoying one's vacation. Because of that, we rarely got to a park before 10 a.m. unless I had reservations for something before that. I reveled in sleeping in late.
Saturday, May 27:
Drove about 13 hours to Orlando from Louisiana. Got stuck for about 45 minutes in Mobile because a minivan caught fire. We drove by the smoking shell. Pretty scary. Hope whoever was in that car was OK. Arrived to Saturday night I-Drive traffic, so I weaved through one parking lot and another until I got to our hotel. Unpacked the car, ate and we hit the sack.
Sunday, May 28
Spent the day at Discovery Cove. Great weather. Spent morning floating down the river (twice) because it's my son's favorite. Stopped in aviary section of river and just watched the birds. One kept flying down and landing on the lifeguard's shoulder. Lunch was great and we didn't have any trouble with crowds to get it. We spent part of the afternoon in the lagoon with the tropical fish. That water is COLD!! Saw some beautiful fish and tried to take photographs of some. It would be really nice if fish could pose for photos. We also took two more floats down the river again. No dolphin swim this year. We did spend some time watching the dolphins, though. One funny thing: I had to convince D.J. that he could go up to the snack bar and just take a package of cookies and get a drink. He thought he would be stealing and, no matter how many times I told him, I couldn't convince him that I'd already paid for everything.
Monday, May 29
Memorial Day. Went to Seaworld as part of our Discovery Cove package. The place was packed and it was mucho humid. We walked around for a short time, took in the penguins and sharks. We left around noon and came back to hotel. Son was tired and took short nap after lunch. Around 4 p.m., we headed to MK. We hopped on the train first. Son is a huge train buff. We rode full circle and then got off at Mickey's Toon Town Fair. We headed over to the TTA for a spin. My heart dropped when we rode through Space Mountain and the lights were on. We also hit It's a Small World, Philharmagic, the TTA again and Haunted Mansion. The Doombuggies stopped while we were riding through the graveyard. That was a first for me. Then we heard someone over an intercom telling us not to leave our Doombuggies and we'd be moving in a few. Don't know if they were offloading some who was wheelchair-bound or what, but it was kinda cool. We were on our way in maybe two minutes. Next, went to It's a Small World just because I couldn't start my WDW trip without hearing the song. Later, we grabbed a spot at the Tomorrowland entrance to watch Wishes. Once Wishes was over, most of the crowd cleared out of the park and we were able to get a great spot for Spectro.
Tuesday, May 30
Went to MGM for short while. Hit Backlot Tour, LMA, One Man's Dream, Great Movie Ride and walked through lots of shops. Huge lighting rig set up in front of "the hat" but have no idea why. (Note: A few days later, a sign was up that said 'hot set.' The next time we were at MGM, the whole rig was gone.)
Wednesday, May 31
Spent day at Universal Studios. We did everything but Jimmy Neutron. We ate lunch at Monster Cafe. Food not too great, but loved the theme. The Mummy was awesome, as always. We enjoyed the Horror Makeup Show, too. The park wasn't that crowded. Most rides had little to no wait. The exception was Men in Black. We waited over an hour for that one. And no, I had no intention of buying an Express Pass Plus.
To be continued ...