Orlando vacation

To celebrate Mom's 70th birthday, we went on a family trip to Orlando. Things came together nicely because Dan's uncle was on the brink of losing time on his timeshare in Orlando, so he generously allowed us to stay there with him. It was a wonderful place, though we didn't find time to enjoy all the amenities. Penny, Paul and I at least enjoyed a jacuzzi bath together one afternoon with some neat fizzy bath salts. Penny also thoroughly enjoyed the vast quantity of pillows, constructing a cozy nest on her bed to sleep in each night.


We started off our visit with a day to recover from the flight and stock up on supplies for the week. Uncle Jerry and Aunt Estelle were nice enough to drive an hour out to see us that Monday morning. It was great getting to catch up and get some insider info on the various parks in the neighborhood.

Our first park was Disney's Magic Kingdom. I know it seems odd that I don't have any pictures from that day. Not shocking, though, since my phone spent much of the day in a ziplock bag due to the constant rain. We got there right at opening and made a bee-line to the photo opp with Mickey, Minnie and the princesses, conveniently located in Main Street USA. We figured a couple of 30 minute lines weren't really in the cards for our crew, so we went to the back of the building and grabbed some Fast Pass tickets for 45 minutes later. The staffer at the Fast Pass machines was already enrobed in her poncho and Penny exclaimed, "Mommy, it's Cinderella's Fairy Godmother!" Who else would give out tickets to see Cinderella, after all? In just 45 minutes we breezed on into the photo opp building, had maybe a five minute wait and then Penny was dumbfounded by being face to face with Mickey Mouse himself. She neglected Minnie at first, probably because it was just such an overwhelming experience.

Penny posed for some pictures - one foot up in the air appeared to be a must - I found a blank piece of paper for autographs, then Paul had some really giggly moments up close and personal with everyone's favorite mouse. The visit with the princesses was even more cute, as Penny was absolutely speechless, even attempted a curtsy with Aurora, as she met with three of her favorite princess stars all in a row. Now, the question is, are we going to pay Disney $30 to get copies of the photos they took of this priceless moment? They were nice enough not to complain when Dan had his phone out to simultaneously capture the moments.

Once done with the princesses, Paul was incredibly hungry, so he and I headed over to the baby care station while Penny and Dan met up with his cousins. The rain continued, so they did things like Small World, Peter Pan Experience, etc. They got quite a lot done while Paul and I enjoyed a snack, a nap, a full-on lunch, a diaper change - two hours later, we went back outside to the stroller to find our group. There were stroller parking managers who kept moving strollers out from under the awnings so people could stay dry under the awnings. We left the rain cover on Paul's stroller even when he wasn't in it and that seemed to help significantly. It was pretty sad how many little kids seemed to get out of the baby care center with nice dry diapers only to be popped back into their soaking wet strollers. I was pretty proud to have packed a poncho for Dan - made it tons easier finding him as he was the only camouflage green in a sea of clear Disney-emblazoned ponchos. Man, they make a mint when it rains! $1 for two ponchos at Dollar Tree, but each of those Disney ones was something like $9.

After a brief grownup lunch, we hit a few more rides with the little guys. It continued to be a drencher, but we enjoyed things like the train, Winnie the Pooh, the Tikki Room...really there is plenty to do even in the rain. By dinner time, though, Dan's cousins had pretty much had it. Their toes were wrinkly, they were really sick of dashing everywhere, so after a final ice cream, decided to call it a day. Right after they left, the clouds parted and Penny, Paul, Dan and I enjoyed some really nice weather for driving cars, seeing a comedy show, and even getting a great look at the Electric Parade. Both kids were asleep by the time we took the monorail back to the parking lot, got thoroughly lost because we skipped the shuttle in hopes of keeping them asleep, and then found ourselves again after crossing through Jafar's expansive wasteland.

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