Well, I finally got home yesterday around 2:45. It was a long drive home but we made it! We think next time we go we’ll fly, it was hard on all of us. Now let me tell you about my trip. First off let me mention a scary moment on our way to Disney World. After driving through Santa Rosa Island in Florida we passed right through Tropical Storm Hanna. The winds were probably around 50 miles an hour and since we were driving along the coast we could see the huge waves. It was pretty scary especially since we could see large sand dunes gathering on the roads in front of us. Luckily though we made it safely to our hotel room. The next day we continued our trek to Disney World.
Sunday, Sept. 15th
Around 4:30 we checked into our villa at the Disney Boardwalk Villa’s. You can’t believe how beautiful it looked as we drove up to it. I had seen pictures of this resort on the Internet but seeing it in person was awe-inspiring! We then walked into the enormous lobby and I looked around while my dad checked us in. I’ll be sure to post some pictures of it soon. When we got to our room the excitement continued. As you walked in you immediately walk into the den area, to the right is a small open kitchen complete with all the amenities. The den had a pull out couch were my brother slept and a T.V. Also to the right was as you walked in is a door to the master bedroom and next to it a door to the half-bath with the shower and commode. If you walk into this bathroom there is a door to your right, open this door and it leads to another bathroom area where the whirlpool tub and a small sink are…there is also a walk-in closet here too. Also there is an open door way in this bathroom, which leads to the master bedroom. The master bedroom where my parents slept had a King size bed, a T.V., and a wicker chair with audomin. Across to the right of the front door is the door to the other smaller bedroom, which had a small kitchenette, a small bathroom with a door to the shower/bath and commode, a small round table with two chairs, a pull out couch, a queen bed and a T.V. My friend Jennifer and later my friend Kathleen shared this room. Jennifer slept on the couch and Kathleen and I shared the bed. Once Brad and Jennifer arrived we all went out to the boardwalk area, which ran all the way around the back of the resort. This area had shops, a small grocery store, and a couple of nightclubs. It was so beautiful at night and it was so relaxing to walk around out there. We were all pretty hungry so right after we got settled in we walked to a restaurant on the boardwalk called “The Flying Fish” and had a wonderful dinner. For dessert we went to the sweet shop nearby and all had ice cream. It was so nice to sit out there and watch the fireworks in the distance.
Monday, Sept. 16th
We all woke up bright and early the next morning and decided our first stop would be the EPCOT park. But first we had to stop by somewhere to get breakfast…we ended up going to a restaurant right next door to “The Flying Fish” called “Spoodles” and had a traditional breakfast. I had eggs, sausage, pancakes, and decaf coffee. After our meal it was on to EPCOT! What was great about the boardwalk was that you could either catch a boat to EPCOT or walk there. It’s the same with MGM. We decided to take the boat. We arrived at the park and rode Journey into Imagination, Honey I Shrunk the Audience (a 3-D show) which was awesome, The Living Sea’s, The Land, and Brad, Jennifer, and my dad went and rode Test Track which is a fast roller coaster ride so I couldn’t ride. I ended up doing plenty of shopping around this time. Then they went on Spaceship Earth and I shopped even more. They told me the ride was mediocre and needed serious updating. By the time nightfall hit we were extremely tired and hungry after our day of riding and shopping so we ended up going to a restaurant I remember going to as a kid called “San Angel Inn” in the Mexican pavilion which is part of the World Showcase section of EPCOT. The food isn’t that great (mainly because they serve authentic Mexican dishes, I prefer TEXMEX) but the atmosphere is worth going. When you go inside the building it looks like your outside at night complete with dark sky, breeze, and a volcano in the distance that looks like its smoking…you can actually see smoke rising from it. I remember as a kid (I was 7) going here and actually thinking I was outside and asking my dad how the sun went down so fast…HAA, HAA!!! It was still as neat looking as ever. After eating we decided to ended up hanging around World Showcase a bit more and then decided to head back to catch the boat back to our hotel.
Tuesday, Sept. 17th
Ah, another morning again. Plan for today was to skip eating in any more restaurants for breakfast and do something a little easier. We ended up going to the bakery downstairs along the boardwalk and eat some pastries. I had a wonderful cherry Danish and the others had éclairs and other stuff. We would do the same routine for breakfast the rest of our trip except I changed to a cheese Danish for the rest of the trip. We decided for today our choice of park would be The Magic Kingdom. So off we went to catch a boat to EPCOT and then we’d have to transfer to a monorail then another to get there. We finally arrived on Main Street. Wow, what memories that brought back. It was awesome to see the castle rising up in the distance! We took a few pictures and then decided to head for the rides. Our first one was “It’s a Small World” Boy that’s one ride you’d hate to get stuck in…that song gets stuck in your head after awhile. Next on our list was the Jungle Cruise, which was great because they now have it where you can take your wheelchair on the boat with you. (“It’s a world of laughter a world of fears…hmmm, hmmm, hmmm….”) oh sorry, that song really does get stuck in your head. The Jungle Cruise was as good as ever and we got a really funny guide!!! After that we decided to go eat lunch (yes, I know we eat a lot but we are a very hungry group…FOOD!) and ate at a place in liberty square called “Liberty Tree Tavern” where everyone is dressed in old colonial style clothing. It was great and I ended up having turkey and dressing with mashed potatoes…YUM! I also got Coke to drink because there is no Dr. Pepper served in the parks…can you believe that? After our tummies got full it was time for more rides. We went on “Alien Encounter” next, it was pretty scary. They psych you out by making you think there’s an alien lose in the room with you. Great ride!!! My bother, mom, and Jennifer then went on Space Mountain. Since I can’t ride I you guessed it, went shopping. This is a bad thing for me…I nearly bought out the whole store! It’s not good when I have money to spend…LOL!!! We then went to dinner back at EPCOT at a Japanese Restaurant in World Showcase where they cook the food at the table. It was great and the chef was real talented with those knives…he could cut up the food in a second and throw it on your plate very quickly…if I did that I’d end up cutting off a limb or something….YIKES! I ended up eating the chicken and shrimp. After wards we wondered around the Japan part of World Showcase and got to see a group of Japanese young boys and girls who were doing all sorts of fancy tumbles and stuff…great and amazing show! By this time nightfall was setting in and we ended up seeing “Illuminations” which is a spectacular light, laser, and fireworks show with a globe in the middle of the lake and projects different images of places around the world on it. Disney always does amazing shows like that.
Wednesday, Sept. 18th
Today, we went to MGM Studios. Again we caught the boat over there. I love MGM, you almost feel like you really are in Hollywood! We ended up stopping first at Mann’s Chinese Theatre, which houses the Great Movie Ride which is a wonderful ride through different films…wonderful!!! Afterwards we ate at the Brown Derby for lunch and then went on more rides. Next, my brother, Jennifer, and dad went on “Tower of Terror.” Yep, more shopping for me since I couldn’t ride this either. Then we went on the “Back lot Studio Tours” where part of it you walk through and they pick people from the audience to get soaking wet while re-enacting a scene from a movie…those poor unlucky souls that got picked…HAA HAA!!! It was so funny. The rest of the tour we boarded a tram and got to see the actual facades of houses from different shows such as the “Golden Girls.” Then it was on to Muppets 3-D show, which was equally as funny. Now it was onto eating dinner, we ate at the “SCI-FI Dine-In” which is a place where you sit in a mock up of a 1950’s Cadillac and watch clips of old SCI-FI movies on a big movie screen. The food wasn’t that great but again, the atmosphere was wonderful! The ceiling looked like a nighttime sky and it looked like houses were in the background. My friend Kathleen then called on my dads cell phone to tell us she was at the hotel and she joined us for the rest of the week.
Thursday, Sept. 19th
Got up and this time drove over to Animal Kingdom. It was pretty neat…mostly it’s just a park filled with wild animals and we got to see some great ones…we went on the safari and got a great look at some lions and Giraffe’s and other animals. We then ate lunch at the Rain Forest Café, which I think was better then the one here in North Texas. I had the coconut chicken tenders and then drank a Coke. It was an excellent and filling meal. Afterwards we decided to walk around some more and look at some more animals. By the afternoon we decided to leave since we found nothing else to do there. We decided to head back over to MGM for the rest of the day. While there we took my friend Kathleen on many rides we had ridden before but luckily no one had ridden Rock n’ Roller Coaster yet so brad, Jennifer, and Kathleen rode that and even got a picture of them on the ride that you can buy. Guess what I did while they rode? Yeah, like you couldn’t guess…HAA HAA! After that they took her on Tower of Terror. She loved them all! That night my brother had suggested we go see “Fantasmic” which is a light and fireworks show. It’s a live action version of the movie “Fantasia” complete with music. Again Disney does a great job with visual effects. Oh, and I forgot to mention that we ate at a place called 50’s Prime Time Café. You walk in and the inside in the waiting area looks like you’ve walked into a living room of the 1950’s. The eating area looks like a kitchen from the same era. Here’s the thing, if you get a woman waitress it’s supposed to be your mother and if it’s a man it could be either your brother, or uncle. We got a guy who called himself Uncle Tim. He was hilarious! He asked us when we got there why we hadn’t written in awhile. He then told us that if we didn’t eat all our veggies we couldn’t have any dessert and that we had to keep our elbows off the table. He asked everybody if they had washed their hands and everyone said yes, then he looked at Kathleen and asked if she washed her hands then he asked what color the tiles were in the bathroom and she said blue. Then Uncle Tim made a “follow me” jester with his hands and made her go there to wash her hands…Kathleen still contends the walls were in fact blue but I’ll never know since I never saw the bathroom. The food was delicious and myself and Jennifer had the meatloaf, Brad had pot roast, and my mom and dad had fried chicken. My dad tried to hide his veggies under his chicken bones but Uncle Tim knew better. I didn’t finish all my veggies or all my meatloaf but Uncle Tim said I was always his favorite and let me get by with it. He did let us have dessert though and it was a really delicious sundae. Before we left Kathleen put her elbows on the table for the 3rd time so Uncle Tim squirted a line of catsup in front of her on the table and said that now she couldn’t put her elbows on the table…Kathleen said she must’ve had a sign on her forehead saying “pick on me.” It was funny! Later that night Kathleen and I went to a club called “Jelly Rolls” on the boardwalk. It’s a dueling piano bar and the first one I’ve been to…it was so much fun, we ended up staying out till 12:30 that night.
Friday, Sept. 20th
Went back to EPCOT and rode basically every ride again I mentioned before except this time we added a ride and rode Ellen’s Universe of Energy which is a ride hosted by Ellen DeGeneres and you travel back to the historic era. We ate at an Italian place called “Alfredo’s for lunch and for dinner ate at “Big River Grill” back at the boardwalk. Both of the places were GOOD!
Saturday, Sept. 21st
Headed back to Magic Kingdom and rode the same rides again. Took Kathleen on Space Mountain and she loved it. We ate at Cinderella’s Castle for lunch and had our pictures made with her and later had our picture professionally made in front of the castle. I even bought a nifty frame to put it in. That night my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend Jennifer left for EPCOT while Kathleen and I stayed behind at the Magic Kingdom to watch the Main Street parade. It was great but I do miss the old parade they used to show. After the parade we left to rejoin the rest of the group in EPCOT. My dad made us reservations at this restaurant in the United Kingdom pavilion at a place called “The Rose and Crown Pub.” He got us awesome seats too. We ended up getting a great seat outside on the patio and got to watch the “Illumination’s” fireworks from there…we were so close to them it was like a dream!!! I even got to try Guiness beer and thought it was good.
Sunday, Sept. 22nd
Woke up early and got ready to check out. My brother and Jennifer had a flight out at 10:00 and check out time was 11:00 so after Brad and Jennifer left Kathleen, my mom and dad and I went to eat some pastries on the boardwalk one last time before Kathleen had to leave. It was so great and I miss it. After checking out we went to the nearby Wilderness Lodge and ate with my dads friend and her family. The restaurant in the lodge was called “Whispering Canyon” and if you had small children they let them ride stick horses to the table…it was so cute!
I had a great trip and hopefully in a couple of years we can go back again!
Sunday, Sept. 15th
Around 4:30 we checked into our villa at the Disney Boardwalk Villa’s. You can’t believe how beautiful it looked as we drove up to it. I had seen pictures of this resort on the Internet but seeing it in person was awe-inspiring! We then walked into the enormous lobby and I looked around while my dad checked us in. I’ll be sure to post some pictures of it soon. When we got to our room the excitement continued. As you walked in you immediately walk into the den area, to the right is a small open kitchen complete with all the amenities. The den had a pull out couch were my brother slept and a T.V. Also to the right was as you walked in is a door to the master bedroom and next to it a door to the half-bath with the shower and commode. If you walk into this bathroom there is a door to your right, open this door and it leads to another bathroom area where the whirlpool tub and a small sink are…there is also a walk-in closet here too. Also there is an open door way in this bathroom, which leads to the master bedroom. The master bedroom where my parents slept had a King size bed, a T.V., and a wicker chair with audomin. Across to the right of the front door is the door to the other smaller bedroom, which had a small kitchenette, a small bathroom with a door to the shower/bath and commode, a small round table with two chairs, a pull out couch, a queen bed and a T.V. My friend Jennifer and later my friend Kathleen shared this room. Jennifer slept on the couch and Kathleen and I shared the bed. Once Brad and Jennifer arrived we all went out to the boardwalk area, which ran all the way around the back of the resort. This area had shops, a small grocery store, and a couple of nightclubs. It was so beautiful at night and it was so relaxing to walk around out there. We were all pretty hungry so right after we got settled in we walked to a restaurant on the boardwalk called “The Flying Fish” and had a wonderful dinner. For dessert we went to the sweet shop nearby and all had ice cream. It was so nice to sit out there and watch the fireworks in the distance.
Monday, Sept. 16th
We all woke up bright and early the next morning and decided our first stop would be the EPCOT park. But first we had to stop by somewhere to get breakfast…we ended up going to a restaurant right next door to “The Flying Fish” called “Spoodles” and had a traditional breakfast. I had eggs, sausage, pancakes, and decaf coffee. After our meal it was on to EPCOT! What was great about the boardwalk was that you could either catch a boat to EPCOT or walk there. It’s the same with MGM. We decided to take the boat. We arrived at the park and rode Journey into Imagination, Honey I Shrunk the Audience (a 3-D show) which was awesome, The Living Sea’s, The Land, and Brad, Jennifer, and my dad went and rode Test Track which is a fast roller coaster ride so I couldn’t ride. I ended up doing plenty of shopping around this time. Then they went on Spaceship Earth and I shopped even more. They told me the ride was mediocre and needed serious updating. By the time nightfall hit we were extremely tired and hungry after our day of riding and shopping so we ended up going to a restaurant I remember going to as a kid called “San Angel Inn” in the Mexican pavilion which is part of the World Showcase section of EPCOT. The food isn’t that great (mainly because they serve authentic Mexican dishes, I prefer TEXMEX) but the atmosphere is worth going. When you go inside the building it looks like your outside at night complete with dark sky, breeze, and a volcano in the distance that looks like its smoking…you can actually see smoke rising from it. I remember as a kid (I was 7) going here and actually thinking I was outside and asking my dad how the sun went down so fast…HAA, HAA!!! It was still as neat looking as ever. After eating we decided to ended up hanging around World Showcase a bit more and then decided to head back to catch the boat back to our hotel.
Tuesday, Sept. 17th
Ah, another morning again. Plan for today was to skip eating in any more restaurants for breakfast and do something a little easier. We ended up going to the bakery downstairs along the boardwalk and eat some pastries. I had a wonderful cherry Danish and the others had éclairs and other stuff. We would do the same routine for breakfast the rest of our trip except I changed to a cheese Danish for the rest of the trip. We decided for today our choice of park would be The Magic Kingdom. So off we went to catch a boat to EPCOT and then we’d have to transfer to a monorail then another to get there. We finally arrived on Main Street. Wow, what memories that brought back. It was awesome to see the castle rising up in the distance! We took a few pictures and then decided to head for the rides. Our first one was “It’s a Small World” Boy that’s one ride you’d hate to get stuck in…that song gets stuck in your head after awhile. Next on our list was the Jungle Cruise, which was great because they now have it where you can take your wheelchair on the boat with you. (“It’s a world of laughter a world of fears…hmmm, hmmm, hmmm….”) oh sorry, that song really does get stuck in your head. The Jungle Cruise was as good as ever and we got a really funny guide!!! After that we decided to go eat lunch (yes, I know we eat a lot but we are a very hungry group…FOOD!) and ate at a place in liberty square called “Liberty Tree Tavern” where everyone is dressed in old colonial style clothing. It was great and I ended up having turkey and dressing with mashed potatoes…YUM! I also got Coke to drink because there is no Dr. Pepper served in the parks…can you believe that? After our tummies got full it was time for more rides. We went on “Alien Encounter” next, it was pretty scary. They psych you out by making you think there’s an alien lose in the room with you. Great ride!!! My bother, mom, and Jennifer then went on Space Mountain. Since I can’t ride I you guessed it, went shopping. This is a bad thing for me…I nearly bought out the whole store! It’s not good when I have money to spend…LOL!!! We then went to dinner back at EPCOT at a Japanese Restaurant in World Showcase where they cook the food at the table. It was great and the chef was real talented with those knives…he could cut up the food in a second and throw it on your plate very quickly…if I did that I’d end up cutting off a limb or something….YIKES! I ended up eating the chicken and shrimp. After wards we wondered around the Japan part of World Showcase and got to see a group of Japanese young boys and girls who were doing all sorts of fancy tumbles and stuff…great and amazing show! By this time nightfall was setting in and we ended up seeing “Illuminations” which is a spectacular light, laser, and fireworks show with a globe in the middle of the lake and projects different images of places around the world on it. Disney always does amazing shows like that.
Wednesday, Sept. 18th
Today, we went to MGM Studios. Again we caught the boat over there. I love MGM, you almost feel like you really are in Hollywood! We ended up stopping first at Mann’s Chinese Theatre, which houses the Great Movie Ride which is a wonderful ride through different films…wonderful!!! Afterwards we ate at the Brown Derby for lunch and then went on more rides. Next, my brother, Jennifer, and dad went on “Tower of Terror.” Yep, more shopping for me since I couldn’t ride this either. Then we went on the “Back lot Studio Tours” where part of it you walk through and they pick people from the audience to get soaking wet while re-enacting a scene from a movie…those poor unlucky souls that got picked…HAA HAA!!! It was so funny. The rest of the tour we boarded a tram and got to see the actual facades of houses from different shows such as the “Golden Girls.” Then it was on to Muppets 3-D show, which was equally as funny. Now it was onto eating dinner, we ate at the “SCI-FI Dine-In” which is a place where you sit in a mock up of a 1950’s Cadillac and watch clips of old SCI-FI movies on a big movie screen. The food wasn’t that great but again, the atmosphere was wonderful! The ceiling looked like a nighttime sky and it looked like houses were in the background. My friend Kathleen then called on my dads cell phone to tell us she was at the hotel and she joined us for the rest of the week.
Thursday, Sept. 19th
Got up and this time drove over to Animal Kingdom. It was pretty neat…mostly it’s just a park filled with wild animals and we got to see some great ones…we went on the safari and got a great look at some lions and Giraffe’s and other animals. We then ate lunch at the Rain Forest Café, which I think was better then the one here in North Texas. I had the coconut chicken tenders and then drank a Coke. It was an excellent and filling meal. Afterwards we decided to walk around some more and look at some more animals. By the afternoon we decided to leave since we found nothing else to do there. We decided to head back over to MGM for the rest of the day. While there we took my friend Kathleen on many rides we had ridden before but luckily no one had ridden Rock n’ Roller Coaster yet so brad, Jennifer, and Kathleen rode that and even got a picture of them on the ride that you can buy. Guess what I did while they rode? Yeah, like you couldn’t guess…HAA HAA! After that they took her on Tower of Terror. She loved them all! That night my brother had suggested we go see “Fantasmic” which is a light and fireworks show. It’s a live action version of the movie “Fantasia” complete with music. Again Disney does a great job with visual effects. Oh, and I forgot to mention that we ate at a place called 50’s Prime Time Café. You walk in and the inside in the waiting area looks like you’ve walked into a living room of the 1950’s. The eating area looks like a kitchen from the same era. Here’s the thing, if you get a woman waitress it’s supposed to be your mother and if it’s a man it could be either your brother, or uncle. We got a guy who called himself Uncle Tim. He was hilarious! He asked us when we got there why we hadn’t written in awhile. He then told us that if we didn’t eat all our veggies we couldn’t have any dessert and that we had to keep our elbows off the table. He asked everybody if they had washed their hands and everyone said yes, then he looked at Kathleen and asked if she washed her hands then he asked what color the tiles were in the bathroom and she said blue. Then Uncle Tim made a “follow me” jester with his hands and made her go there to wash her hands…Kathleen still contends the walls were in fact blue but I’ll never know since I never saw the bathroom. The food was delicious and myself and Jennifer had the meatloaf, Brad had pot roast, and my mom and dad had fried chicken. My dad tried to hide his veggies under his chicken bones but Uncle Tim knew better. I didn’t finish all my veggies or all my meatloaf but Uncle Tim said I was always his favorite and let me get by with it. He did let us have dessert though and it was a really delicious sundae. Before we left Kathleen put her elbows on the table for the 3rd time so Uncle Tim squirted a line of catsup in front of her on the table and said that now she couldn’t put her elbows on the table…Kathleen said she must’ve had a sign on her forehead saying “pick on me.” It was funny! Later that night Kathleen and I went to a club called “Jelly Rolls” on the boardwalk. It’s a dueling piano bar and the first one I’ve been to…it was so much fun, we ended up staying out till 12:30 that night.
Friday, Sept. 20th
Went back to EPCOT and rode basically every ride again I mentioned before except this time we added a ride and rode Ellen’s Universe of Energy which is a ride hosted by Ellen DeGeneres and you travel back to the historic era. We ate at an Italian place called “Alfredo’s for lunch and for dinner ate at “Big River Grill” back at the boardwalk. Both of the places were GOOD!
Saturday, Sept. 21st
Headed back to Magic Kingdom and rode the same rides again. Took Kathleen on Space Mountain and she loved it. We ate at Cinderella’s Castle for lunch and had our pictures made with her and later had our picture professionally made in front of the castle. I even bought a nifty frame to put it in. That night my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend Jennifer left for EPCOT while Kathleen and I stayed behind at the Magic Kingdom to watch the Main Street parade. It was great but I do miss the old parade they used to show. After the parade we left to rejoin the rest of the group in EPCOT. My dad made us reservations at this restaurant in the United Kingdom pavilion at a place called “The Rose and Crown Pub.” He got us awesome seats too. We ended up getting a great seat outside on the patio and got to watch the “Illumination’s” fireworks from there…we were so close to them it was like a dream!!! I even got to try Guiness beer and thought it was good.
Sunday, Sept. 22nd
Woke up early and got ready to check out. My brother and Jennifer had a flight out at 10:00 and check out time was 11:00 so after Brad and Jennifer left Kathleen, my mom and dad and I went to eat some pastries on the boardwalk one last time before Kathleen had to leave. It was so great and I miss it. After checking out we went to the nearby Wilderness Lodge and ate with my dads friend and her family. The restaurant in the lodge was called “Whispering Canyon” and if you had small children they let them ride stick horses to the table…it was so cute!
I had a great trip and hopefully in a couple of years we can go back again!
