My trip report titled "Where Magic Lives"

[raysnkaysmom]

So...I blog about on myspace alot.. and figured I'd hit the Disboards (that I havent been to in nearly 2 yrs...shame on me!!)
Thought I'd share my blog with ya'll



Where Magic Lives...
Current mood: relaxed
Category: Travel and Places

Back to reality...home from our week long vacation.
Let me recap it for you, in detail.

For those of you who don't understand my love for Disney....if you've never been, if you never notice the little things and you don't look past the physical, and see the vision...you'd never get it.... That's ok...some people don't.
I'm on of those people who steps on Main Street, and get butterflies in my stomache. I see the faces on my girls, and I relive a childhood through the experiences of an adult. There's no place on earth like Disney World. It's where magic lives and dreams come true.

We arrived in Orlando Sunday afternoon about 4pm, ate a steak dinner and headed to our resort. Bonnet Creek/Wyndham is absolutely breathtaking. The girls saw the place and felt like royalty, it was awesome! We took a quick swim in our pool, and then decided to head to Downtown Disney for some ambience

Our first magical moment happened at Downtown Disney. Let me preface by saying my very first trip to Disney World had an 'a-ha' moment and let me to the beliefs that everyone who stays with The Mouse is good - In 2003, we left our mini-van sliding door open Allll day (by accident of course) in the parking lot of Disneys All Star Music Resort. In the back seat of our van was our TV, DVD Player, Movies, Toys and the basics of an 8 hr drive with 2 kids. This door was open for thousands of people to walk by in a 12 hr period. We came back to the van, saw the open door from a distance and my heart dropped. The money we just forked out for that DVD player and all my Disney movies I knew was gone.
But....it wasn't. Everything was there. That's because this is where Magic Lives

So..here we are, Sunday in Downtown Disney, and the girls are shopping around with me, wearing their lanyards. If you aren't familiar with the pin-trading craze of Disney, people of all ages where their favorite collector pins (ranging from $5 to $100) on their lanyards to show off their collection, and possibly trade with fellow Disney lovers. I got the girls their lanyards last year, and have collected only approximately 4 pins. This is Kayleighs birthday trip, and her favorite pin, her FIRST pin, was Pluto coming out of a bowl that says "Walt Disney World". She had a fear she was going to lose the pin, but I assured her I checked the backs, and her pins were safe. Walking about a mile around Downtown Disney, through the massive crowds of people, through the shops, down the roads....we noticed her Pluto pin was missing at the end of the strip near Rainforest Cafe. She broke down in tears, and I felt my heart break for her. Rayden tried to offer Kayleigh one of her pins...but nothing can replace your first and your favorite. I told her we'd backtrack (2 hrs worth of walking) and keep our eyes on the ground. I knew if MY girls found a pin, they'd be excited to add it to their collection, as I'm sure any one would do! But, we looked. We decided to go into World Of Disney, the largest store possible and look around the places we shopped the most. Of course, this shop SELLS these pins so even if it WAS found, I'm sure they'd assume it to be theirs. I stopped a cast member (Cast Members are employees of Disney, but unlike any other employee of any other organization in the world....I know, I've been a Cast Member) and told her I had an 'out there' question, but by chance had she found a pin of Pluto in a bowl. She, of course, had not, but directed us to information, where it would be turned in if it had been found. Kayleigh was heartbroken, and I of course, had little hope. We continued to make our way through the massive store, headed towards information, with our eyes still on the ground. There were 2 elderly Cast Members chatting, and I decided to interupt them and ask them as well in another section of the store. As I was wrapping my arms around Kayleigh, I was describing the pin to one of the Cast Members, when she opened her hand and presented Kayleigh with her Pluto pin. IT WAS IT! The girls totally made fun of my face, my reaction... but I"m telling you...this is why I love Disney. Magic Lives Here
Back to our resort, and off to bed, an early day began tomorrow heading to Magic Kingdom!
Magic Kingdom was the initial vision of Walt. Main Street USA with areas such as Tomorrow Land with Space Mountain and Frontier Land with Splash Mountain. Stepping onto Main Street, you see Cinderellas Castle, the focal point of the entire park. It's what little girls dream of....
We started our journey at Casey's and ate hot dogs then headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean, which is a bit different based upon the movie. And, I must say, Jack Sparrow looks hot, even robotic! We were a bit bummed that Haunted Mansion was being refurbished, but we went on the staple of Disney...
"It's a Small World". They have a new show this year, called "The Laugh Factory" from Monsters Inc. Mike Wazowski tells us jokes, and we all laugh a bit. You can text a joke and they may use it in their stand-up. Kaykays joke was one of 3 to make it into the show.
"How do you make a tissue dance?"
"Put a little boogie into it". - Kids, of course, roared at this one. Ewww.
The temperatures wore us out quickly, and we decided to head back to the room around 8pm and for-go the fireworks...we'd seen them many times. 8pm turned out to be a good time, because at 8:30, when our bus got us back, the rains came. Poor Rayden..I ordered pizza and sent her out to the pool deck to get it, and she came back looking like she fell in the pool. It was pouring!!!
Next day....Epcot and MGM. The girls had only been to Epcot once, and that was our very first trip, so they were excited to do a few things there. First stop, Test Track. I, of course, could not ride...and I so wanted to!! That had a blast tho! Then, we wandered around, and got our Fast Pass for Soarin'. Soarin' is the virtual ride that takes you hang gliding through California. Gorgeous and feels so real. We decided to tour the countries in Epcot waiting for Soarin'. Several pictures were taken, but Africa turned out to be Kayleighs favorite country.
Magic Moment 2. When we first got to Magic Kingdom, we got Kayleigh a pin (for free I might add) that had her name on it showing she was celebrating her birthday. Cast Members wished her happy days at every turn. She was indeed a Princess this trip. Now, as we get to Africa, we're checking out the shops, when a Cast Member says "Kayleigh?!?!" Kayleigh, who is dumbfounded, smiles. He says "Kayleigh, it's your birthday! I have a phone call here for you". He walks her over to the desk and gives her the phone. Who's on the phone? Why, it's Goofy of course, wishing her a Happy Birthday! Kayleigh is all smiles as the Cast Member introduces himself as Uncle Reggie. He talks to her a bit then pulls a collector pin out of his pocket. Two actually, one for her, and one to give. It's a pin of Tinkerbell that says "Where Magic Lives". She adds it to her collection, and I feel a sense of wonder. I love this place. We thank Uncle Reggie in Africa and head over to Japan to eat lunch.
Soarin' turns out to be a hit with the girls, as does our 'Talk to Crush" expedition. This is one of the coolest things at Epcot in my opinion. You talk to Crush from finding Nemo, and he answers your questions, all with his Australian surfer accent and humor. Kayleighs question gets the most laughs. "Are you married?" Crush answers with "Sorry ladies, Crush is taken"
We head over to MGM the latter half of the afternoon to ride our favorite ride ever....Tower of Terror. Well, I, of course, can't ride. Yeah, I'm a bit bummed, but I promised Mark (and Deborah...lol) that I wouldn't ride the rides. And, in return, Mark promises to take me back next year...lol. As soon as we get there, we head over to Tower of Terror. Only a 20 minute wait, and the girls are on as I exit through the service elevator. I see them in their camera shot, hands in the air, Kaykay giving the 'thumbs up'... My little cards...
Head over to Rockn' Roller Coaster....and grab a Fast Pass... which is a 4 hr wait. But, this will be Kaykays first time and she's so excited. We wander through the park and sightsee and shop a bit, then head back over to Rockn Roller Coaster. It is soo hot, we figure we'll just wait it out in line so we can head back to the room. After about 45 minutes in line, we are informed of an unknown delay and we have to leave. Kaykay was upset, so I told her we'd come back in the morning before Animal Kingdom.
Last day at Disney, we head straight into MGM and Rockn' Roller Coaster. Wait in line for about 45 minutes, and the girls are on! I have a priceless pic of them getting off the ride, and even bought the one of them in Aerosmiths Limo. They are elated!
Over to Animal Kingdom and head to get the Fast Pass for Expedition Everest. One of the coolest rides in Disney, and I've talked it up to them since I rode it last October. Our fast pass gives us 5 hrs to kill, so we check out "Its a bugs life", "Rafikis Safari Ride", some character greets....lunch. We missed The Lion King Show, and I was really bummed about that. That was an awesome show, Broadway Style. We go through Dino Land, several countries and check out the backlot of the Safari. Finally, 4:45pm and we head to be in line for Expedition Everest....the girls are ready to fight the Yeti. The Fast Pass line now has us waiting for about 30 minutes and the announcements start that there has been an 'unexpected disturbance in the mountain, and the wait time has increased'. After another 30 minutes of those announcements, and us sitting on the floor in line with the hundreds of others, the dreaded announcement comes over. They have stopped the expeditions up the mountain for the day but will give us a fast pass return for a later date. The girls, were, of course, bummed, and we wasted an hr in line for nothing
Now, it was time to catch our bus and head back to the car for our drive to Daytona.
Daytona was only a little over an hr away, and we passed the Daytona 500 speedway, which Rayden thought was pretty cool. By the time we got to our resort, it was too dark to see the ocean, but we knew it was there - Sadly though, our room didn't have an ocean view...we were robbed...LOL.
Woke up about 9:30 Thursday morning and headed straight to the beach. Sunburn, Day One. The water was warm enough to enjoy with the girls. We jumped waves, wrote in the sand and headed to the hotel pool. Lazy River and all.. it was nice to relax.
The remainder of our trip was about sleeping, eating and swimming. And, of course, breaking up random fights between sisters. Some things never change, even on vacation.
Our last night, we ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company...and the waitress left me with departing thoughts.
"What did momma say life was like?"
"A box of chocolates" I answered.
"And why is that?" she continued.
"Because you never know what you're gonna get."

Ain't that the truth?