Orlando Vacation: Days 3 - 5

I don't even know where to begin, so I'll just keep typing as things come to me.

Day 3 - Sunday(Magic Kingdom) - First of all, let me just say that we woke up to one of the most beautiful days that I may have ever seen. Once I looked out of my window and saw the palm trees red from the gleaming sunrise, I knew that nothing could go wrong. We went to Golden Corral for breakfast, and afterward went directly to my favorite place on earth: Magic Kingdom!! As we were driving, I kept thinking, "Can't this truck go any faster??" That's how anxious I was. I was anticipating the kids' faces when they walked under the Main Street overpass, turned the corner, and had a direct view of Cinderella's Castle. I still remember how I felt as a 9 year-old the first time I saw it. We rented a couple of double strollers, and off we went. Under the overpass, right around the corner,.....nothing. I looked at Olan and Cassie as I jumped with excitement, and said, "Look kids, it's the CASTLE!!" Cassie giggled a little. Olan simply said, "Disney." He watches Disney movies all of the time, and he recognized the castle from the Disney movies. So that was all I got out of the kids for a first reaction. I knew that it would probably go downhill from there for the kids, since anyone who is captured by the "magic" of Magic Kingdom is usually the most taken in by Cinderella's Castle.

To recap the rest of Day 3, we had a very nice one, to say the least. The weather was PERFECT. The kids enjoyed posing for a picture with Tigger. We rode a few rides in Fantasyland, which the kids seemed tolerant of. :-) Their favorite was obviously Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. My favorite as well; that ride ROCKS!! We left the Magic Kingdom by 7pm. My parents arrived, so we picked up some dinner and met them at the villa. We had kept it a surprise from the kids that my parents were coming, so they were thrilled to see Grams and Pop Pop all the way here in Florida!

Day 4 - Monday (Downtown Disney) - Another great day. I actually enjoyed this experience much more than Magic Kingdom, to be honest. Downtown Disney has the Marketplace and Pleasure Island which surround a big, beautiful, crystal blue lake. The kids were able to run around a little more this day, because there weren't very many people there, and the kids couldn't get away from us as easily as they could in one of the theme parks. The weather was a little chillier, but it still got up to about 70 without one single cloud in the sky. Highlight of the day: We stopped by Haagen Daaz/Wetzel for lunch while in Pleasure Island. I tasted the Almond Crunch pretzel for the first time. OMG!! That is the best thing I've ever tasted! I will be searching for Wetzel locations when I get back to Atlanta. Ended the day with dinner at Golden Corral and all of the adults staying up until midnight chatting about politics. Good times. :-)

Day 5 - Tuesday (Universal Studios) - Best day yet. I have officially become a Disney traitor. Or maybe I'm just getting old. Whatever the case, the entire family was MUCH happier at Universal than we were at Magic Kingdom. The kids' favorite attraction of the day was Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast. Mine was Back to the Future (duh). Chris's favorite was Nathan's Hot Dogs. :-) He LOVES those hot dogs so much, and they're hard to find in Atlanta. My parents mostly enjoyed hanging out with their grandchildren and watching them giggle and cheer. Yeah, Chris and I decided that Disney World is much to overwhelming for us and the kids at this point. From the dancing characters as soon as you enter the park, to the people dancing down the street with hats and umbrellas, with thousands of other screaming kids within feet of you...it's just a little much. The pre-Mommy Tami can handle it. The current Tami cannot. Universal will be getting our money exclusively for at least the next two years. We got back home around 8:30pm and turned in around 9:30 for the evening.

We're done with theme parks for the week. Today is our last full day here. If anything interesting enough to report happens, I'll post tomorrow night once we're home. Wow, we'll be back in Atlanta tomorrow. This vacation is quickly coming to an end.