The Disney Diaries

Well my original plan of posting a daily log of the Bryson's adventures in Disney World didn't quite work out as planned. The internet connection in our room was down the entire trip, much to the chagrin of Danielle who is a Facebook Junkie. Here's the Cliff Notes version of the trip:

Friday
Loaded up the kids and hit the road at 5AM. Drove through a freaking Monsoon rainstorm until we hit the Florida border where the rain finally let up. Arrived at our resort, Caribbean Beach, "Welcome to the Islands," around 3PM, just in time for a tornado warning to hit the Orlando area. Went to Downtown Disney for supper and ate at Earl of Sandwich. Gay name, great sandwich.

Saturday
Hit the Magic Kingdom after breakfast. Weather was good, overcast and cool. We took Ridge on the Dumbo ride which he loved and renamed the "Gumbo" ride. We also rode Snow White which is basically a haunted house attraction and Ridge rode the entire thing with his hands over his eyes. It kinda freaked him out but we later took him on the Peter Pan ride (which he loved), the Aladdin Magic Carpets and the Jungle Cruise. Passed on Pirates of the Caribbean since we had a feeling it would be too much for him. Definitely next year. Left the park around 4PM and ordered room service for dinner.

Sunday
Had Breakfast with Mickey and the other characters at the Contemporary Resort. Unbelievably lame and the food wasn't all that great, but Ridge and Mimi loved the experience. After breakfast we hit Hollywood Studios where Danielle and I rode the Rock N Roll Roller Coaster. Not bad, not bad. That was pretty much it. Not a whole lot at that park for little kids, but Ridge had a blast chasing Daddy up and down Main Street screaming "FAST!" We'll probably skip that park next time. Sunday night we headed over to Jason's place to watch the Super Bowl. Way to choke Peyton!

Monday
Hit the Animal Kingdom. Ridge loved running through the jungle area chasing Daddy and looking at the tigers. I have to admit, I love tigers too especially after reading the stories of Col. Jim Corbett. Danielle and I rode Expedition Everest, my favorite ride in the entire park. Love the production design on that thing. If they can make a blockbuster movie out of the Pirates ride they could defiantly make another one out that. Come on, who wouldn't want to see a movie about a blood-thirsty Yeti monster? Had dinner that night at the T-Rex Cafe. Again too scary for the two year old and a six month old. While everyone else ate dinner, Daddy took Ridge across the street to Mickey D's for chicken nuggets. "Too many dinosaurs," said Ridge.

Tuesday
Our last day and the weather turned sour. We headed over to Epcot around noon where we had lunch reservations at the German restaurant. Awesome food and I stuffed myself until I nearly burst. The rest of the time was spent walking around the park in the pouring rain. Finally got back to the hotel around 3PM soaked to the bone. We decided not to got out that night and instead had a low-key dinner at the resort with the grandparents.

Wednesday
Loaded up the Pilot and hit the road around 6AM. Got back in the ATL around 4 that afternoon.


All in all it was a great trip. Lots of work and not a lot of "down-time" for Mom and Dad but I suppose that comes with the territory. I think our yearly trips will just get better and better from here on out as the boys get older and can enjoy more of what the parks have to offer.