Saturday and Saying Goodbye

We parted ways with the Fowlkes on Saturday morning and then spent our last few hours at Epcot. We got in a few more rides (including 2 trips on Test Track) and ate our way around the world before heading home. Jeff needed a few more egg rolls from China, and I needed one last dessert in France. :)

It was a good trip. Now back to reality...and middle school homework!

Friday...eh, let's take a break!

Friday was supposed to be our 2nd Universal day, but we were exhausted! It was also one of the warmer days, so we decided to just stay at the condo and let the kids play at the (heated) waterpark. We all needed a little down time, plus it got me out of riding the Hulk. ;) 

That night, we celebrated Jennifer's birthday (a week or so late) at Kobe. HBD, JDF!

Thursday at Universal

Jennifer, Tyler, and I took the kids to Universal Studios on Thursday. Nate and Will were excited about the rides but needed to warm up to the idea of going upside down on the big roller coasters. Tyler said he would go on Dragon Challenge with them, so I said that I would go on the Incredible Hulk. (Why did I agree to this again?)

They did ride the Dr. Doom's Fear Fall right away. Ash was disappointed that she was too short for many of the high thrill rides, but we were able to go on the Spider-Man 4D ride with them where we got stuck twice!!

We made our way through both parks and spent most of our day in the Harry Potter areas. I have not read the books and have only seen the first movie, but I was still very impressed at the level of detail in all the displays. Every HP fan would love it! You have to buy the two park tickets to gain access to Hogwart's Express, but it is probably the coolest thing there. My kids do not recommend the Butterbeer. It made them sick to their stomachs. I don't know if it was the Butterbeer or the nerves, but Nate did not ever go on any of the big coasters. Tyler and Will both survived the Dragon's Challenge (with 5 inversions!), and we saved the Hulk for another day.

Wednesday at Magic Kingdom

On Wednesday, we were those people. You know the ones. Lined up at rope drop, fighting their way to the front of the crowd. Let me explain...there's a new ride -- The Seven Dwarves' Mine Train -- that always has tremendous wait times and no Fast Passes are available. We truly ran at a full-on sprint through the parking lot and worked our way through the crowd. When the ride opened, we were the second group in line that morning! The look of satisfaction on my face in the picture above makes me both proud and a little ashamed at the same time.

It was a fun ride, but not high thrills and definitely not worth the 80+ minute wait it had almost the whole time we were there. The other ride that we really liked and rode multiple times was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Even though it broke down once just before we got on, it was a group favorite.

We tortured the kids through It's a Small World. After Jeff left to go to his conference, Jennifer and I took the younger ones on the carousel and the Flight of Peter Pan. The older boys were bigger thrill seekers, so they ditched us to ride Space Mountain again.

 

Monday at Hollywood Studios

We arrived at Hollywood Studios just after "rope drop" on Monday. The two must-dos for us were Jedi training and Toy Story Mania. We got in line first thing and got 4 spots for Jedi training later in the day. Hollywood Studios was our favorite park the last time we came largely due to Nate's fascination with all things Pixar. The fact that he's kind of over that and the remodeling going on at the park right now moved it lower on our list. Toy Story Mania was still the best ride in all the parks, but the wait was always exorbitant. We only rode once and waited over an hour. (This was also a "green" day on the crowd calendar!)

One mistake we clearly made this week was talking Evan into riding The Tower of Terror. No one but Jeff really enjoyed it, but poor Evan might have been a bit traumatized. 

One thing that did not disappoint was the Jedi training. The guy leading it did a great job engaging the kids, and Darth Vader was also very interactive. After they completed training, the boys all wanted to build their own light sabers. As you can imagine, many light saber battles ensued for the remainder of the week.

Ashley and I found time for lots of Disney treats throughout the week. 

One last thing we had to do was to shake hands with Goofy for Papa!

Tuesday at Animal Kingdom

Tuesday was Jeff's last full day of play before his conference started, and he choose to go to Animal Kingdom. We enjoyed another day of cool, beautiful weather and low crowds. Our group had a love/hate relationship with Expedition Everest. Jennifer, Evan, and Tyler did not like it, but the rest of us rode it again and again! 

We all enjoyed the safari, A Bug's Life 4-D, and the Lion King show. Jennifer was the only adult that would go on the Primeval Hurl, I mean, Primeval Whirl with them,