The Last of Disney...

I took a ton of pictures at Disney, but, well I'm honestly tired of posting about it. So here are the last of my favorite pictures. We had a ton of fun, and learned a lot about how to do Disney the right way. Next year we're going to Hawaii for our big vacation. I think Steven will be thankful for something a little more low-key :) So, without further ado, the last of the Disney 2010 photos:

You Can Fly, You Can Fly, You Can Fly!

I have never been a fan of heights. Slides scared me as a child. Ladders scare me as an adult. While I say that I'd love to skydive, I really just like the idea of skydiving. Let's be honest. I don't even like jumping off the diving board at the pool.

So when another guest at Disney mentioned this "really cool" attraction at Downtown Disney where you can go up in a helium balloon, I turned a little green. Steven, on the other hand, looked like a kid at Christmas.

So went went to Downtown Disney. We shopped, we walked, and I glared at the sky, hoping Steven wouldn't notice the giant red and yellow balloon. But he did. He practically RAN to it. I was secretly praying it would be insanely expensive, or that the line would be ridiculous. ANYTHING.

I mean, who trusts a HELIUM balloon? Seriously. You buy them for a birthday party, and they're on the ground a day later. Who would trust a helium balloon to carry them a thousand feet in the air? Or thirty feet. Whatever. 

My husband would, that's who. 

So I went, and held on for dear life. All the way up, and all the way back down.

And I lived, but just barely. 

And I might have had a little bit of fun. But if you tell him, I'll deny I ever said so. 

Welcome to Hollywood!

Our day in Disney's Hollywood Studios was... well interesting. We visited this park last because according to all of the crowd calendars, it was the only day that wasn't going to be horrific. They had Magic Hours over the weekend, and then as Easter approached, the crowds were supposed to go up, up, up! 

Well, surprise surprise. The crowds went UP a day early! We arrived at the park to a ridiculous crowd. We raced to Rockin' Roller Coaster for fast passes, and soon after grabbed ones for the Tower of Terror. The fastpasses for Toy Story Mania were gone long before lunch, and the line crept along with wait times reaching more than 3 hours. You know those days that test your patience? This was one of them. We were hot, cranky, and couldn't get in to do ANYTHING we wanted. Even the backlot tour had a wait of over an hour ... the typical wait is about 5 minutes. It was long, tiring, and frustrating. 

We weren't the only frustrated people though... Magic Kingdom had a back up 3 miles outside of the parking lot. They closed that park off to people with just single day tickets. The whole thing was a madhouse.

Luckily though, after giving ourselves an afternoon time-out at ABC Commissary (and treating ourselves to dessert!) we were able to get into the Indiana Jones Stunt show, and from there the day started to move and a much happier pace. We got to ride Star Tours, and found out later that this ride will be closing later this year for some "re-imagining."

We saw alot of the short little shows, to break up the time between rides. I enjoyed the exhibits after the Art of Disney Animation Show.

After twisting and turning and fighting our way through the park, the time reached 8:30 p.m. I still hadn't come within spitting distance of the entrance to Toy Story Mania. We went and saw the wait time down to 90 minutes. The park closed at ten. Perfection. So we waited.

I admired Disney's ability to recreate childhood favorites, and maintain perfect theming throughout a long line.

I giggled over the cute signs, and watched as my husband and most everyone around me became grumpy, tired and bored. Then I became grumpy tired and bored.

Then we got to this guy. He talked, cracked jokes, and was generally entertaining... until I realized we'd been within earshot long enough for him to get through his entire cycle ... ugh. Luckily a short time after that an angelic cast member sent us up the handicapped line to fill in a hole. We considered hugging her, but refrained.

The we rode the ride, and our arms hurt, and I kicked Steven's tail. I almost photographed the scores, but I thought he was grumpy enough.

And that friends, was our last full day in the parks. We spent the next morning at Downtown Disney (and rode Characters in Flight -- cool yet terrifying!) and the next evening at Epcot, where we ate at very yummy Le Cellier. Then Thursday came, and we were tired. Very tired. We swam, and contemplated what we would do for the next two days. 

Then we realized the only thing we wanted to do was go home.

Do you remember those Berenstian Bears books from when you were a kid?  One was called Too Much Birthday. This was our own version of that book. Too much vacation. We had a blast, and loved every second, but I have never been so tired in my life.

So we packed in a hurry, made a few calls and headed out. We waved goodbye to Disney, and headed back to Texas. 

Back in Texas & The Magic Kingdom

Steven and I made it back from San Diego today. When the flight attendant announced the current temperature at DFW when we were taking off from California there was an audible groan on the plane. It was 98 degrees. I don't think it went over 75 the whole time we were in San Diego. Possibly more like 70. Needless to say California Weather in May = Glorious and Texas Weather in May = GROSS!

So while I'm muddling through the thousand pictures I took in my future home favorite weekend vacation spot, I thought I'd work on finishing up the Disney photos. We spent 1.5 days in the Magic Kingdom, and I literally took 10 pictures. Here are 4 of them. It was hot, busy, crowded, and much fun. We also got stuck on Space Mountain. No, I don't have pictures of the inside, because I was afraid of falling to my death. It was pretty cool though. So, without further ado, our abbreviated photo tour of the Magic Kingdom Park:

Up next is Hollywood Studios. Most of the Hollywood Studios photos were taken while waiting in line for Toy Story Mania. We waited for 90 minutes... and that was a short wait that day.... more to come!

My Floridian Safari

I've heard mixed reviews about Animal Kingdom. Some people love it, some people hate it, and it literally made one of my friends ill every time she went there. Needless to say, I went into Animal Kingdom with some reservations.

As it turns out, we adored every minute we spent in Animal Kingdom. We got rained out on our first day, so we returned for another day of fun. Like all Disney parks, the theme-ing was awesome. We especially enjoyed the Africa and Asia sections. More to come on that later.

Today, it's all about the Kilamanjaro Safari! We loved it so much, we rode it twice! Here are some of my favorite shots from our African-Floridian Safari!

That's just a quick overview of our Safari. We had a blast, and thanks to Disney's classic magic and theming, it felt incredibly real! Well other than the cheesy poacher story line, but I just chose to ignore it!

Next up are the few... very, very few... photos I took in the Magic Kingdom.  We were so busy when we were there that I barely remembered to pull out my camera! But I promise there will be more from Disney's Hollywood Studios and the rest of Animal Kingdom. Like I said, we love, love, love Animal Kingdom. It was just more our speed than the other parks. Everything seemed calmer and less stressed. 

Hope that everyone had a lovely weekend!

Wordless Wednesday - Safari Preview

Snapshots of Future World

Stay tuned for Magic Kindgom, World Showcase, The Safari, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.  Although, I can't guarantee that order, or that I'll actually spread it out to that many posts. We shall see.