The Happiest Place on Earth!

Well of course this has to be a vacation post. Milwaukee, while interesting and fun in its own right (read: come visit us please), is certainly not the happiest place on Earth, especially not in January...unless you're a snowman or maybe a polar bear. Everybody knows that the happiest place on Earth is none other than Disney World!!!!!

Yes, Maggie and I have just returned from a weekend excursion to Disney World. We left Friday evening and after a slight delay, got into Orlando (direct flight, no less) around 11:30 eastern time. We hit Disney Saturday/Sunday and flew out again today (Monday), arriving back in the MKE around 3pm. Woot!

I'm not gonna give a play by play, but a nice overview is in order, I believe. In the interest of providing some background, I'd like to note that I have been to Disney World only one other time (technically twice if you count in utero), when I was two years old. Needless to say, I remembered very little and wasn't really so sure why Maggie always gets so excited about Disney World. Now I know.

Welcome to Disney World!

Day 1

Mags and I woke up from our hotel, which was a nice little extended stay place about six miles away from Disney. We had our own stove, microwave, fridge, etc....very nice set-up. We weren't sure what park to hit first, but decided on The Magic Kingdom because Splash Mountain was supposedly going to be closed on Sunday and we had already decided to split our time between Epcot and The Magic Kingdom. We walk in the park, take a ferry across instead of the monorail (bc I thought it looked like fun) and arrive at the gates of The Magic Kingdom. The place is freaking huge! I had no idea. We went straight to Splash Mountain, whose song I still can't get out of my head, and rode it a few times. We intended to then head straight over to Epcot for the rest of the day, but once in the Magic Kingdom, that's just impossible. So, we hit Thunder Mountain, then the Haunted Mansion, then Peter Pan, then Snow White, then Pooh, and finally decided to head to Epcot. By this time, it was already noon. Whoops...time flies and all that jazz.

Nothing about this picture says "Tourist," right?

So off to Epcot we go for lunch (we decided to hit Epcot for lunch bc they have the world tour area and we could pick our country). We picked Italy, where we had some fantastic lasagna, that having recently been in Rome, we can say tasted exactly like it did in Rome....like Chef Boyardee! Still, it was quite good, and after a short nights sleep and a heavy lunch, we were a bit tired. We rested while we waited for our Fast Pass to kick in at the GM Test Track and couldn't help but wonder how this is considered an okay investment for GM....but don't get me started. Anyways, the Test Track was pretty freakin' cool. It basically takes you through all the tests they do normal cars, culminating in a 75 mph lap through hairpin turns....very fun.

Greetings from Epcot!

After Test Track, we finished our tour of the worlds, spending time in Japan, Mexico, France, Morrocco, the UK, Norway, and of course, CANADA!!! Canada was actually pretty cool, and after watching a ten minute video on it, I can honestly say that it looks gorgeous and Maggie and I are probably gonna try and go there in the near future. We also went on a Viking Cruise while in Norway, vich vas very awfjsome. Apparently they're known for two things: vikings and trolls. Again, who knew?

Speaking of trolls....apparently, not a tire troll. Just FYI.

After hitting some more rides at Epcot, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom until the park closed at 11pm. We rode just about everything except Space Mountain on Day 1. That line was ridiculous all day. After we departed the park, we drove back to the hotel to meet Courtney, who drove down from Tallahassee to go with us on Sunday!!! After quick hellos, we crashed hard.

Space Hero Spencer and Navigator Maggie fresh back
from slaying the evil Lord Zurg in Sector 9.

Day 2

We woke up early again and got to Disney about fifteen minutes after it opened. We had a gameplan. We shot straight for Space Mountain, got a fast pass, and got in line right away anyways. We walked straight through to the front of the line, rode Space Mountain, got in line again, no wait again, then wandered off for a bit to wait for our fast pass to kick in. First thing, three times in a row might be a bit much. For the record, Space Mountain really is that awesome. We then covered the park from top to bottom, from Pirates of the Carribean, the Jungle Cruise, and Aladdin to Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain, all of Fantasy Land, the tea cups, Toon World, It's a Small World, and even the Country Bears Jamboree. I can't say that anything special happened because everything was so awesome! Disney rocks hardcore!

The three of us on Thunder Mountain. (Pardon my expression, but I was holding the camera and hit the button before I remembered to smile correctly. Whoops.)

Mags and Court gearing up for Peter Pan!

Mags and Court prepare to thwart Captain Hook all by themselves.

So as you've noticed by now, I've sprinkled some pictures throughout. My favorite picture is not included bc we would have had to buy it. It was of the three of us going down the big drop (into the briar patch) of Splash Mountain. Court and Mags are in the front row, huddled against each other in fear. I'm by myself right behind them with my hands spread out and raised, screaming my head off in enjoyment (and I'm even wearing my mouse ears).

Arrrggghhhh!

So all and all, great time was had by all, and we'd be back in a second if we could keep this "earning a living" thing off our backs....but such is life.