On the plane and ready to go! |
I've never really liked Disney. Since I was a kid. It seemed fake and cheap. I was five years old when I went to the magic kingdom the first time. I was disappointed, at the age of five, when Cinderella's Castle seemed small. I expected a real castle, like the ones in England. I guess my perception of Disney was pretty well cemented at that point. The second time I went was just with my mom. She's great and all but when you are 10 or 12, you don't really want to hang out with your mom but she gets props for trying. The last time I went I was in High School. It was not the trip of a lifetime. I was with my choir class and I was miserable. Probably for no reason but none the less, it was not a good experience.
Magic Kingdom streets, empty after rain |
Going to Disney was not something I wanted to do, but Randy was ridiculously excited. I reworked my work schedule to have two days off in a row and we went. We left Grand Rapids on a Sunday morning and I returned on Monday night. Randy continued to stay for 5 more days.
I rode a lot of rides in the short time that we were there. It rained, a lot of people left and the park was pretty slow soon after we arrived. We took refuge in the hall of presidents during one of the storms. This was a place I remembered and liked. We didn't stay for the show, although now they have Barack Obama and it's way more updated than the last time I was here. When the rain came down it was like a ghost town. Luckily it stopped pretty quickly, but the crowds didn't come back. I think people didn't trust the weather so they all went to dinner.
Some of the rides we went on were, The Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain (my favorite), It's a Small World (still has creepy puppets), Aerial's Grotto, Pooh's Honey pot, Thunder Mountain, we walked around the Swiss Family Robinson Tree house, Pirate's of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, the TomorrowLand Speedway (I was terrible at driving), Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, and finally I was fascinated by the mosaic in the Magic Castle. I did not remember that at all.
Our anniversary menu |
Amazingly manicured topiaries |
We took a boat to get to our restaurant for dinner. We went to Narcoossee's and it was delicious. Outside on the water around the restaurant there was a light parade. It was pretty awesome. Then we went back to the park to ride some more rides because we stayed at a resort the park didn't close for us until 2am.
When we returned after dinner we saw another light parade on land. It was amazing to see their costumes. We also caught the end of the fireworks. Every night they have extraordinary fireworks, a tinker-bell that zip-lines down the magic castle (who wouldn't want that job?), and the light parades on the water and around the kingdom. It is an amazing place. The people that work there are amazing too. We got our picture taken with Aerial from the little mermaid and I was so amazed by how the cast members stay in character. It's really and truly amazing how everyone that works there seems to love their job.
The best time to go seems to be in the middle or end of April and probably after spring break and before summer break. The lines seemed to be pretty short. Overall, it was a great trip and I wished I had more than a day to stay (shocker). It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and the topiaries were amazing. I can see why Randy loves it so much and it's part of why I love him so much. I want to go back and see the Animal Kingdom and Epcot for sure and spend more than a few hours.
Wonderful blog! Everything is clear and vibrant: your disappointment, your acceptance, your compromise and your enjoyment. I love a blog that is well written and meaningful!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Deleteenjoyed very much:)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteElizabetsy, you have described the complete expereince. Much like you, I have never been a huge fan of Disney parks due to the commercialism and extreme expense of everything. I appreciate the level that Disney goes to for guest approval, cleanliness, accessibility, experience, etc. I was in Jr High the first time I visited Disneyworld. Subsequent one day visits included once in high school, our honeymoon, and stop off trips twice with our young daughters. We are blessed to camp and vacation with friends. For two of the four wives of our group, Disney is their favorite place to go! Our connection as a group is that our youngest daughter's went to school together. When they were 8th graders, we made our first group trip. Since our trips were anchored around a school teacher convention in mid October, we also encountered rain..LOTS of it. Our wedding anniversary is October 15 and my husband's birthday is October 18, which the latter we were able to secure a celebratory phone call from Goofy to an unsuspecting husband! The men having had such a fantastic time were already planning when we would convene at the Mouse's House next. This began a journey of Anna Maria Island at Spring Break and Disney in October on alternating years, with this bonded group of friends. Our girls are now 23 & 21. We have vacationed together through their high school and college years. We have experienced character meals, long lines, fast passes, sunshine, torrential downpours, tornadoes and even a hurricane. Despite my being a former travel agent, I still think Disney, along with many other tourism driven entities capitalize on consumerism. I'm sure we will return to encompass all that Walt and his predecessors have envisioned.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments!!! I really appreciate it Vicki! I truly didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did! I hope to go back someday soon!
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