Another reason Disney is evil!

It's been a month now since we were at Disney World. I'm still dreaming of all the fun we had and even begging husband to take us back again. However, I have found one more way that Disney is evil.

Throughout the parks there are photographers who are more than happy to take family photos or any kind of photos you want. They then give you a card to use called a PhotoPass. You can give this card to any other photographer who will take your picture and put it on this card. Am I making sense? On the back of the card there is a code you enter into their website and you can see, and buy, all of your pictures. A really awesome concept and I was excited.

We had this nice picture taken in front of Cinderella Castle. We don't get many family pictures taken and it's an added bonus when everyone is looking at the camera smiling.

Once we get home I look at the pictures online and I'm so excited. I tried to copy and paste them to my file, but of course a place like Disney would have a block on that. So I look at how much it costs to order a CD. $99. Yes, really. $99 for a photo CD with all of my pictures on it. Ok, I guess I'm not getting a photo CD. Unless I want to sell one of my children for it. I would consider selling Louisa, but she doesn't do much housework, so I don't think she'd sell for $99. Yes, Disney is evil.

I look at how much individual pictures cost because husband says, well, just order a few that you like the best. Ok, yea! I click on the ones I want and go to check out... $150! What the??!!!!! I didn't really check the prices thinking they'd be about $5 each or so. Wrong. They only come in two sizes, either 5x7 or 8x10. I really want a 4x6 of this one because it goes perfectly with a frame I bought while we were there. They don't have 4x6. I end up ordering only two pictures. Both 5x7 at $12.95 each.

So here are my $30 worth of pictures. Yes they are worth it, but now I had to scan and re-print the horizontal one to fit in my special frame I bought. Another reason Disney is evil.

Disney is Evil!!

That's right, I said it and I'm not taking it back. Disney IS evil! First, they lure you in with the whole "Happiest Place on Earth" thing. I have never seen so many people bickering at each other before. Luckily husband and I are at a place in our marriage right now where we've spent so much time apart that we just don't bicker much anymore. But we're not perfect, we had our moments while we were there. Other families, though, I mean WOW! It's Disney for cripe's sake! You're really going to argue about what ride to go on next, or that your husband looked at The Little Mermaid a little too fondly?

Second, the way they herd you from this place to the next. If you've ever had a secret fantasy to be a cow, go to Disney. You're dreams will definitely come true. Many times throughout my experience I felt like giving off a big hearty MOO!!!

And I'm sure that this won't be my last complaint, but third, who gets to decide who's more important than other people? There was some "Year of a Million Dreams" thing going on where a "cast member" would give your kids a certificate to make their dreams come true. I saw plenty of them being handed out. But mostly to important looking families and families with only one child. Why not my kids? It's the last few days of the year, can't you just hand them out to everyone? I'm not really sure what you get with them, but I know it's things like special lunches with Cinderella and all day FastPass and grand marshall in the parade (of which there's 4 every day at Magic Kingdom alone, my kids could do one!)

As for our actual trip, don't get me wrong, it was magical and wonderful and I don't take back a second of it. Ok well, I take back Epcot, but I don't want to get ahead of myself here. There were just a few things here and there that really irritated me and made the experience, from an adult's point of view, a little less magical. Don't we all wish we could go back as children so that we can ignore all those little things?

We arrived in Orlando on December 29th. (Actually , it was Kissemmee if you want to get technical about it.) We checked in to the hotel and then went to find some food. Found a really cute little restaurant on the main strip there and had a great (and expensive) meal. The service was pretty bad, though. It was also pouring rain.

Next morning we wake up bright and early to go to Animal Kingdom. We got there at about 7:30 in the morning and they were letting people in as far as the main island thingy by the "Tree of Life" (see pictures). We were so excited and the air was truly full of magic. And fog. There's some big roller coaster there, so we go try out this Fast Pass thing that every one's talking about. What it is is by many of the bigger rides there is a machine that you stick your park ticket in and it spits out another ticket telling you that you can come back and skip the whole long line to ride the ride between certain times. In this instance we could come back between 4:00 and 5:00 to ride this big roller coaster called Everest. We got a few other fast passes as well, but you can only get one every hour or so. However, it's totally worth it! The line for Everest alone was 90 minutes, so Husband and Drew bypassed that whole line and got right on. For some reason, Louisa all of a sudden had this fear of ...well...everything. She's really into haunted scary stuff and fast roller coasters. But this whole trip she wouldn't go on anything fast (unless we made her or lied and told her it wasn't fast) and she was scared of all the darker rides. So she wouldn't go on Everest, or even the water rapids ride, at Animal Kingdom. Not sure what that was all about. For anyone who's never been there and isn't sure what to expect, Animal Kingdom is just like what it's name sounds like, a big zoo. I don't know what husband was expecting, but he was a little surprised that it's a glorified zoo. Magical and fun nonetheless!

Day two was Magic Kingdom. Hmm.... let me see, what can I say about Magic Kingdom on New Year's eve other than it was crowded, but we barely waited in any lines. It was tiring, but we were there for a staggering 18 hours. My feet were so sore and tired that each step was agonizing, but we pushed on, and on, and on, and on.... Imagine your biggest dream turns into your worst nightmare. Disney for 18 hours straight! At 6:00 pm we were disheartened to realize we still had six whole hours to go. At 8:00 we cried when we realized we still had four whole hours to go. And at 10:00 pm we about lost it when we realized there were still two more hours until midnight! But by then you're not just going to give up. Oh no! You push on! While everyone is heading to secure a good spot to watch the midnight celebration, you catch a whole bunch of rides with short lines (and bathrooms). I think in those last two hours we got in about 4 rides including torturing husband with It's a Small World, a snack, and several trips to the bathroom because so many people were either exiting to beat the rush, or heading to the front of the castle to watch the fireworks. This was another day of Louisa being scared of everything. One of the first rides we went on was Haunted Mansion. We had ALL been so looking forward to this ride. We love the movie (yes, I know the ride came first) and we were excited that there was no line at all. Even Hunter could go on it. We line up outside the door to the mansion and there are some graves with funny things written on them (very reminiscent of something my friend Kate would do). Louisa starts squirming and asking to go back. We say no, she can go on this, there's nothing scary. We get in the door and she starts to cry. We go into a small room and she starts to wail. We get as far as where you actually get on the ride and she's bawling so hard everyone is staring at us. I get very frustrated because this is so not like her. I take the baby and her and I find an exit in which we end up wandering around the backstage area for awhile before we find our way out. By the time we get back to the stroller husband and Drew are coming out of the ride. Drew offers to go back in with me so I can see it, too. So we switch and Louisa and Hunter sits out with daddy while I go in. She also freaked out while we were waiting in line for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, but since it was an 80 minute line and this ride has no Fast Pass, she was going on it! In the end she was glad she did, but we spent 80 minutes with her whining and crying and once we actually got on the ride she buried her head in my lap and bawled. I finally got her to look up and she was ok after that. Now, back to midnight. It was so worth it when the fireworks exploded over the castle and husband and I gave our new year kiss. The kids were about passed out, but they managed to get up to say Happy New Year! The park was open until 2:00 am and several restaurants were giving away free cookies and hot chocolate. So of course we found one and got our freebies. Here's another reason why Disney is so evil. The monorail at Magic Kingdom. How fun it is to enter the park and ride the monorail (or ferry) across the lake to Magic Kingdom! However, imagine it's New Year's and the whole park empties out at about the same time. How magical is that monorail now? My feet hurt so bad at this point I could barely stand. Drew was so tired that I couldn't get him to walk and he's too heavy for me to carry. Husband hears someone yelling that this other monorail, the one that goes to the resorts, also stops at the parking lot. How awesome is that? The line for this monorail is very short in comparison. I think we still waited a half hour, but the line wasn't even moving for the other monorail to the parking lots.

Day three is Epcot. And let me tell you, none of us wanted to go. But we paid for three days at Disney so by golly, we were going. Not much to say because we didn't enjoy it as much. We met a Snow White who truly did act like a princess, though. And not the sweet Disney kind either. We happened to walk by a Snow White who had just started taking pictures with people, so the line was short. Since she was the only princess we had seen in all three days, we had to stop for Louisa. Not that she's that into princesses, mind you. It was drizzling so slightly that you barely felt it. The people in front of us were two teenage girls who wanted their pic with SW. I don't know what one of the girls was holding in her hand, but SW pointed at it and snapped, "I can't take pictures with those. You need to get rid of it now!" The girl handed whatever it was to her mom. My curiosity is totally peeked. I really wonder what the heck it was. The mom stuck it in her pocket and held up her camera. The girl looked very distraught, though. Then SW puts on her Disney-Snow-White-character-voice and acts all cute and perky with the girls. Next it's out turn. SW pulls out her princess-ness again and looks to the "cast member escort" who is with her. "It's raining. I can't be rained on. We need to go inside NOW!" she snaps. The escort tells me that we're going inside this building now, but we'll be the first family once we get in. So we get our picture, but wow was she.... um.... princess-ey!

I think we were all glad to leave Epcot. Now we had a big decision to make. We were originally going to head out to Cape Canaveral to Kennedy Space Center. Were we still in the sightseeing mood? Did we really want to walk around a whole day more? We decided we'd see in the morning. Morning. Husband goes to check out, only to find that we had one whole more night there. We were tired and couldn't take a fifth night there, so he went ahead and checked out. While he was gone I called Sea World because at one point they were letting military families in for free and I wanted to see if they still did that. I mean, we were down there, so why not? Right? It's not like we're going to make the 15 hour trip some other time just for free Sea World. They still have the promotion running, so we talked husband into going. After all, it's FREE and it's because he's in the military.

We were back in a good mood and Sea World was amazing. Well, mostly for me it was. I am a huge animal person. Love love love animals! Getting that up close with so many sea creatures was awesome for me. Hunter loved every second of it, too. At the Shamu show they honored all military and had military stand. Husband is always so shy and embarrassed about that stuff, but he deserves it. It's nice to go to a place where his service is commended so much. And to get in for free because of it! So, huge thanks to Anheiser Busch! If you are military, several of their parks are free for active duty and their immediate family. Go to http://www.herosalute.com/ . So Sea World is not evil!

Disney, Sea World and lots of magic!

How badly do you feel when you realize that you've told everyone about your Disney trip except for your blog?! Blog, honey, I'm so sorry! Please forgive me for not writing sooner. I've been a little preoccupied, but I promise I'll get better about posting. Do you forgive me? **Blog nodded it's head yes** Thank you, Honey!!!
So, first I'll post pics cause it's much easier just to post them then to strategically place all these pics throughout my story. That's a little harder than you may think it is, and I have a lot of pics to share. Of course!

When we first got to Orlando, we were greeted by this beautiful rainbow! What a great way to kick off our "magical" vacation!

Day One, Animal Kingdom:

Right before we enter Walt Disney World for the very first time!

Why it's great to have a big strong daddy! Hunter spent a lot of the trip on Daddy's shoulders. It's great because he doesn't have to look at knees all day, and Daddy doesn't have to push the stroller all day.

My little bug! Waiting in line for the Bug's Life 4-D show.

Before we got to the park we had told the kids that we were not standing in any lines to have pics with characters. That was just silly! The kids said that was fine. See... look at us sticking to our guns here! Daddy and Drew stood in line to see Mickey and Louisa and Hunter and I stood in line to see Minnie. We only waited about 20 minutes, though, I swear! And yes, feel very sorry for the people in the costumes. It was about 85 degrees at this point in the day!

Two fashionable ladies!

After we had Louisa's picture with Minnie, she came over to Hunter and gave him kisses and snuggles. We teased Hunter the whole rest of the time that he was stealing Minnie from Mickey! He was so smitten with her.

Each park has it's signature landmark that we recognize right away. Animal Kingdom's landmark is the "Tree of Life". It's so much more beautiful in real life than I thought it would be. There are hundreds of animals carved into the "tree" and it's roots. We had a lot of fun just walking around the tree playing "I Spy" with the animals.

Day Two, Magic Kingdom:

What a beautiful site to see my little princess in front of Cinderella Castle! And a great way to start off our day at Magic Kingdom. Daddy and Drew headed off to Space Mountain while Louisa, Hunter, and I headed off to find a FastPass. We stopped to take a few pics along the way. At 8:00 in the morning there aren't many people around, so it's great photo op time.

This is how Husband punishes me when I'm bad!

At each park there are opportunites to dine with characters. Usually you have to make a reservation to get in because it's a popular feature. I made reservations for breakfast with Pooh and friends at the Crystal Palace here at Magic Kingdom. It was wonderful! We saw them all, Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore. Anyone who knows me well knows that Pooh and friends are my all time favorite Disney characters, so I think this was more fun for me than anyone else! Incidentally, Hunter loved them all! He was never once scared of a costumed character. Just the opposite, he reached for them and hugged them and gave them "five".

Almost midnight and they're still alive and kicking! We got these fun hats to wear and noise makers to blow. Disney really knows how to do New Year's!

Actually, when midnight finally came around, Drew had crashed and Louisa was trying her best to stay awake. Hunter was still awake, but he was the only one to have a few naps throughout the day!

Fireworks over Cinderella Castle at midnight made the whole long day worth every agonizing step! (and OH did my feet HURT!) There's nothing like bringing in the new year amidst magic and romance!

How do you torture a husband? Make him ride "It's a Small World"!

Day Three, Epcot:

As you'll hear more about in the story when I post it, by the time we got to Epcot we were totally Disney-ed out. We could have easily done without Epcot and the kids didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped they would. As a result, I wasn't in a picture taking mood. So here are the few good ones I have.

This is the only princess we got our pic with. Louisa wasn't happy that Drew had to jump in, but hey, he's my lady's man! He's gotta jump in when there's a hot princess there! Acutally, Snow White was a little snotty and stuck up. I wasn't very pleased with her. But alas, it's just an actress and we just wanted a quick picture. I have no doubt that the princesses are treated the best at Disney, though. There's probably a reason she acted the way she did.

We bought a ton of souveniers at Epcot. They did have one of the biggest and best merchandise store in all of Disney. Hunter grabbed on to this cute little Tigger and didn't let go! (he has a habit of closing his eyes when I point the camera at him because the flash is so bright!)

Day Four, Sea World:

Hunter and daddy with "Shamu"

At "Dolphin Cove" we got to feed the dolphins and play with them and pet them. They were just as curious about us as we were about them. This little cutie kept following me around and posing for my camera. She gave me a couple really good shots of her and came right up to the kids nicely, too. What an actress! She really knows how to work her crowd! (Snow White could learn a thing or two from this precious sweetheart)

Disney or Bust!

What can I say other than we are totally lucky to be going on this trip. We've talked about Disney for years now. Since we first got married we dreamed of the day we'd actually get to go. Now, here it is! The car is packed, the kids are getting into bed and at 2:00 am we'll wake up and hit the road.
This trip was planned completely last minute, with not a lot of money, but we pulled it off! It feels good knowing that I get this time to spend with my kids and husband doing something we all love. We're addicted to Disney. We love everything Disney-ish, so this is really dream come true time here.