Family Vacation #4845625462

We had a great time in Florida!! We left last Friday and spent the night at the Sheraton in Manchester - Currently they are undergoing some renovations - but they promise to be a great improvement! The hotel has a shuttle to the airport - and you can leave your car there too! We all got free breakfast since our room didn't have any heat - luckily it was on the third floor only Kenny was cold. I slept through the employee coming in to check on it - it was well worth free breakfast. There was a white-out type storm that morning - so we were really glad to have someone else drive us on the unfamiliar roads. We got to the airport in plenty of time but forgot that we had Grace's hand cream in our carry-on so I had to go thru security twice... no problem! We had a layover of about 2 hours in Dulles - we went from one side (A) to the other (C&D) and then walked from C1 to D29 - it is a nice airport - not too big but big enough to have choices for lunch. In Orlando we got a cab to Vistana Villages. Since there is a reason we could get the Sheraton "HotRate" for empolyees- (it is WINTER there and they do much of the needed updating and remodeling - the HUGE pool was down but the pool in our complex was heated and GREAT. There was a hot tub and a 1" kiddie pool too. The kids really enjoyed the game room next to the pool too! The first two days were very warm 80* - one day we relaxed by the pool and the second day (Monday) we went to Disney Worlds - Magic Kingdom. We got there around 10.00ish and took the train around the park to get oriented. We started in Tomorrow land where we took the Tomorrowland Transit Authority Ride to get aquainted. Then I went on Space Mountian.NO WAIT. We all went on the Indie Speedway which was our first line - about 20 minutes- not bad at all. On Main Street - our next visit - we got cookies and milk and sat down at a table to plan our strategy. We hit a gift shop or two and Ben found a baseball he just had to have. We said wait until the end we will be back - but WE couldn't find it! Poor Ben. It was our parental quest to find this baseball which we finally did at downtown disney! In Adventure land we went to the swiss family robinson tree house (wouldn't go again), the pirates of the caribbean (no wait) and the jungle cruise where we had our only Adventureland wait of about 20 minutes. In Frontierland we had already done the Railroad so we went to Tom Sawyers Island and we all tried the "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad" roller coaster. Both Grace and Ben did well - I was glad that they pushed a personal comfort zone- of course we did not make them go on - Ben even said he would go on again - NEXT time in Disney. Grace said she liked the ride better now that it was over! We waited for the parade of a million dreams where Ben got 'birdie dirtied' for the second time! Those birds have great aim! Luckily it was just his hand and washed off eaisly. We did all the rides in Liberty Square - Hall of Presidents, Riverboat & Haunted Mansion - no waits for any ride! By the time we got to Fantasyland we were all a bit tired. Disney closed at 7.00 that night and it was close to 5ish. Since we had no waits for any ride - we chose Cinderellas Carrousel, Snow White's scary adventure (wouldnt go again no big deal) and at Lori's strong urging Mickey's PhilharMagic 3D movie - that was very enjoyable (and we sat down which was a real selling point at the end of the day!! After that we found a lost little girl who we stayed with in the street while Ken went to get a cast member. They walked her down the street and we got to see the family reunited. I don't think her mother will ever let her go- We think Marissa just started following the wrong set of legs - because when we found her she had grabbed someone and looked up and it was not Mom! The final LAND - Mickey's Toontown Fair we just walked thru - no appeal for us! The end of day fireworks and music show was fabulous! We found an empty sidewalk and relaxed. We saw Tinkerbell and one of the most beautiful fireworks displays ever! We then tried to get to Cinderalla's castle - bummer - it was closed for the show and Grace had really wanted to go there - we did get into one gift shop and I asked it we could walk thru but they said no. Bummer. It will be the first place we visit when we go again. Yes - I said when. We had a great time. The next visit can be more relaxed - we can skip the rides we were not thrilled with and check out ones we missed and hit the rides that were down (SplashMountain) and revist favorites. (Spacemountain for me!) We had an adventure going back to Vistana - it was raining the way it rains in Florida - and I missed an exit. We continued to circle the hotel for about an hour - never being more than a mile away. It was frustrating and a bit scary. We stopped for dinner and got directions from a local then went to Walgreens for a map. We were VERY close the entire time. It was good to get out of the car that night. We rented a PT Cruiser for the first two days! The next three days the weather turned cold (55*ish) and overcast. We relaxed by reading, visiting wih my parents, game room gaming and HOT TUB and heated pool! Thursday we moved to the Epot resort - The Dolphin. They have 5 heated pools and 4 heated hot tubs (different temps). VERY NICE. There were at least 7 on property restaurants. I tried Ahi Tuna with Asian coleslaw for dinner. Very good. Ken tried some and ended up going back to the room for benedryl - there must have been some other fish or shrimp juice - He had a cuban sandwhich was good too. (I like the one I had with Amy in Milwaulkee better!) We also found Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island. We went to the movies and saw 'Happy Feet" there then walked around in the drizzle. If we go back we would definately try Disney Quest - the Disney version of a Game Room- and the Rainforest cafe for dinner. Epcot was good too. We went there our last day - it was sunny and cool. A bit busier than monday too. We did Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Adventure (the kids loved that), Grace and I did Mission Space Green (and wanted to go back for orange but it was one of the few waits- 20 minutes or less) and Grace and I did test track. It also had about 10 minute wait- not bad at all! we did Turtle Talk and Finding Nemo with no waits- thank goodness because we thought they were lame! In the Land ~we took our suprise favorites - all of us went to living with the land - we got to see green houses and hydroponics. I want to go back and see the show "Behind the seeds" since this ride was so interesting. Grace and I went of Soarin - it was our longest wait- 30 minutes. She LOVED it. I enjoyed it but most likely wouldn't wait that long for it again. Ken & Ben went to the cirle of life show there while we waited for Soarin. They like it. We went to Figments journey into imagination (I was not impressed but I love Figment and bought one) and Honey I shrunk the Audience. We visited Innoventios East & West too. By the time we got to the world showcase - it was getting dark. 6.30ish We had refried beans, nachos&Cheese and a churros to begin. The ride was down in Mexico and Norway. In China we saw the 360* movie - neither child was impressed so we didn't do any more movies. We did a few 'KidKot masks and cardboard attachements for the mask - until Japan which was a great hit for the kids. They spent money of POKEMON toys - Grace said she will save money to get all the pokemon toys next time. The rest where just gift shops and restaurants. It was cold by this time and Ken had only a t-shirt. Benny and I kept him warm while we waited for the light show "Illuminations" It was beautiful. The way they set lights and fireworks to music is unbelieveable. We then headed back to the room via boat - to pack. When making the reservations it didn't sound too early - 7.30am flight - well - we got up at five- check out by 5.45 - got to the airport by 6.15- and it was PACKED. YIKES. Luckily I had printed out boarding passes in the lobby so we check our luggage with the skycab and went to a huge securtity line. Suprisingly - the one huge line was separated into 8+ lines and we got thru quickly. We got to the boarding area about 10 minutes before boarding. I fell asleep as soon as I sat down and they shut the doors. I woke up in DC. The shuttle was very fast and the car started up! My tires were very low so we added air and headed home. It is good to be home!!

My Life #34093893843759324793

Hey - I like this blog setting! I'll really try to keep up with this. Come back at the end of the month and I will have stories about my family vacation to visit 'the mouse'! PEACE. JESS