Saturday, December 9, 2006
Where to next?
OK, so as I said in the previous post, our friend Dre has never been to Florida before. He said he was leaving his fate in our hands

what a mistake that was
lol.

We went to the Boardwalk and picked up my brother. He said wed be more fun to hang out with than our parents, grandmother and great-aunt
hahaha.

After that we picked Dre up at his hotel at 8:15 a.m. as promised. The man was standing at the lobby entrance waiting for us.

I could already tell it was going to be a great day!!! Part of our gift to him was his hopper pass for the day. So, off we went into Animal Kindgom. The plan was to go straight in to Mt. Everest, then to the Safari, Dinosaur if we had time and then on to MGM. Oh yea, we didnt get to eat any breakfast. Thank goodness for those bakery stands on the way to Everest. I had a Cinnamon roll the size of my fist. It was yummy. The boys got some other buns and muffins. So, here is Dre in front of Mt. Everest.
We got on the stand-by line and only waited 10 mins. It was great!!! Then, on to the Safari. On the way there, we saw Baloo and told Dre he HAD to have his picture taken with him. So, he said OK.
We told Dre to take his camera out and to be ready for the safari. Unfortunately, it was a bit early and many of the animals had decided to sleep in that morning. But he got the idea and had a great time anyway. Since we were able to get on both of those in such a short amount of time, we decided to go for Dinosaur. We went on and Dre enjoyed it. I always get scared though and was hanging on to Andrew for dear life. Lol
. We got out of the ride and had Dre take a picture on the dinosaur in the courtyard. Then, we walked through the shop in front of us and I saw all the princess stuff
heres what happens when Diane gets a hold of a very willing friend
Well, after that we decided it was time to go to MGM where we would meet up with the folks and Selena. We went on Rockin Roller Coaster first with the four of us and my Dad and Selena. What a blast we had!! We forgot to mention to my father that the entire ride was in the dark

hehehehe
hes only done one other looping coaster and that was in
Disneylands California Adventure
he had fun anyway. After that we went on Tower of Terror. Dad and Selena sat out for this one but Mom came. Again, short lines but a great time was had by all!!!
Then, we introduced Dre to the famous Turkey leg
mmmmmmm
yummmmm
.
Then, onto the Backlot Tour. This was fun. We were back with the entire family now. As we were walking through to the trams, an announcement was made that everyone on the line would be able to be a part of the Year of a Million Dreams.

Everyone on line was receiving a wrist band to come back to the park at 8 p.m. for a special show and extra Magic Hours. How cool???!!!!! Andrew, Rich, Dre and myself didnt take it because we had to get to 2 other parks, but the rest of the family did it. It was cool to say we were a part of the YOMD. The Backlot tour was fun. Dre had a great time with our tour guide. She had looked pretty cranky when we first got on so Dre started asking her if she was going to be like that the whole time and she started loosening up a bit. By the end of the tour, they were both laughing and having a great time!!!

The whole train said Congratulations to us and she wished us well. Well, Andrews favorite part of MGM is the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show
well, this day they were having some problems and the show wasnt running. However, they were allowing people to go in and view the rehearsals. So, we all went in. It was still cool, but not quite the same.
After that we decided it was time to go to Epcot. My family left to get on the boat and take it over to Epcot. We took our daughter this time. We took a couple of pictures with Herbie and in front of NYC and then off we went.
We decided wed park at Magic Kingdom and then take the Monorail over to Epcot, since we were planning on ending at the MK. My mother had made dinner reservations for everyone in Germany. We were also meeting 2 friends of ours, twin sisters, Joy and Cindy, for dinner also. They had been in Epcot for a while though and we were planning on meeting in Germany
so we are on this line and I go to get the passes out and realize my folks have Selenas hopper pass
.

GREAT!!! There are now only 25 mins left to our reservation and Mom and Dad are there already
ARGH!!! So, I call them and they come as fast as they can to the front gate to give us her pass
its a good thing those lines move slow
then we all RUN back to Germany. Boy were we tired. Joy and Cindy had checked in already and gotten the buzzer so we were ok. We got in and ate. We were able to see the show twice. The food was pretty good. My grandmother LOVED it!!! Her parents immigrated from Germany and Hungary so it was like when she was growing up with the music and food. I love seeing Grandma happy.
Next, the folks decide theyve had enough and are extremely tired!!! So, they pass up the chance to go back to MGM for their extra magic hours and decide to go back to the Boardwalk. We sent Selena back with them also since we all had a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. So, Andrew, Rich, Dre, Joy, Cindy and myself start making our way to the monorail. The boys had way too much fun goofing around on the ride over to MK and then we arrived. Watching Dre walk into the MK was like watching a child seeing it for the first time.

He was so cute. His eyes were all wide and his mouth was open
he couldnt take it all in quick enough. We took some pictures of Main Street for him and then we all headed out to Pirates of the Caribbean.

That was so much fun!!! I never get tired of that ride!!! Its one of my favorites!! Next, we went to the Haunted Mansion. Nothing like picking up a hitchhiking ghost. Lol
Then, we decided we wanted to go to Space Mountain. So, we walked through Fantasy Land

and as we got closer I looked at Andrew and said, No Disney trip is complete without going on Its a Small World. So, we all took a sharp left and went on Small World
. HAHAHA!!! We told Dre it was a ride he couldnt miss. If he was going to experience Disney the right way, he had to go on this ride. Poor guy had no idea what he was in for. After the first 2 mins he started looking at us like we were nuts. We got off and asked him what he thought (as we tried to hold back our laughter) and he just looked at us and said, I probably could have done without that. We all burst into laughter. We told him he had paid his penance and he wouldnt have to go on it again until he had some children of his own. OK there was only like 30 mins til the park closed. So, we started speed walking to Space Mountain. We were the last people to get on the ride. So, cool
there we are waiting on line and boom!!! The lights come on!! Were like, HEY!!! Whats going on????

Well, they said there were too many trains on the track and it would be a few mins while the system reset
about 10 mins later, we were on the train, the lights were off and we were riding in the dark!!! Wooooohooooooooo!!!!
Well, we got off the ride and started walking towards the castle. Joy and Cindy wanted to take a picture by the castle at that picture spot by the Rose Garden. So, we all decided to take a picture there. Dre had the coolest pic though because he got the snowflakes on the castle.
As we walked back towards the ferry, we were all a bit sleepy. We asked Dre how his day was and he said he had a great time!!! It was a long day but he enjoyed it all. We told him next time hell have to come down with a few days to spend in there and do it the right way. Maybe next year.
Well, Joy and Cindy grabbed a bus back to the ASMovies and we walked back to our car.

Tomorrow was another day
rehearsal, rehearsal dinner
and oh yea, Andrews wedding present
until then...
