Vacationing the hard way

It turns out spending five days in Orlando with kids is not the relaxing kind of vacation.  We all came home completely exhausted. But we might be coming back for more. 

Disney World favorites - the favorite of favorites?

Before our trip, I spoke with many people who have vacationed in Orlando with children. A surprising number said their kids' favorite part was the hotel pool.  

And sure enough.... after a few hours in a hot crowded theme park, having a giant pool almost to yourself really hits the spot! Was it their favorite? Well... it probably made the top three at least. 

Disney World favorites - parades

It seems wherever you go around Disney world, there is always a parade brewing.  On top of that you have the characters floating around to meet and greet. The boys haven't watched enough Disney movies to recognize half of them. But how can you resist a seven-foot cuddly teddybear coming at you?!

Disney World favorites - looking for Sue

After a couple of days of walking and enjoying rides in hot and humid weather, it is nice to be digging in the dirt. It is especially fun if there are "dinosaur bones" to be discovered.  

There was also a ride called DINOSAUR. I tried to talk the kids into riding it. They balked. That was a good thing as it was a bit beyond their appetite for thrills. They're still little and don't enjoy being hunted by monsters in the dark. 

Disney World favorites - hello Africa

Since 1998 Florida has been home to an African Savannah. One of the highlights of the trip was taking the safari tour through it in a custom GMC truck.  One might asks oneself 'how can Disney afford to build all this stuff?!' Then you go and buy yourself an ice cream cone and you know!

Disney World favorites - after dark

Most nights, Disney World is open well past bed time. 

But... we're on vacation and we can always sleep in tomorrow morning! 

In addition to everything else you can do during the day, in the night you get the addition of parades with floats full of LED light bulbs, the shows to light up the castle, and spectacular fireworks. It's really quite something. We experienced the spectacle the fist night we were there.  To squeeze out as much as we could out of the trip we also came back the last night for some final vacationing before it was time to head home and to the airport. 

Disney World favorites - 10... 9... 8...

It is really just a regular hub-and-spoke amusement park attraction... But the Astro Orbiter has two things going for it:

• It's a ROCKET - enough said!
• You have to take an elevator to get to it. You're already up in the air before you start!

For a grown-up watching it, it is also a interesting piece of work to look at. It is what was futuristic back in the seventies and eighties in a Jetsons kind of way. 

Disney World favorites - cooling off

Here's a shocker! The boys liked ice cream breaks! Especially in the warm Florida afternoon sun. 

But if we're listing out favorites, stopping in the shade to eat ice cream with Mickey Mouse ears was very popular! 

Disney World favorites - flying with elephants

To call the Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction an old-school ride is a bit of an understatement. The original was included when Disney Land in California opened in 1955.  But the cars (is that what the elephants would be called?) are beautiful and the ride hub is very ornate. It also helps that the ride has an air conditioned playground, with a paging system, for a waiting area. It still draws a large crowd and the line is permanently long.  We tested the system when Johan had to leave the waiting area TWICE to go to the bathroom during our wait. It seems it is not the first time this has happened and the staff gave out bathroom passes so you can return to your place once you have taken care of business. 

It was probably more of Johan's favorite than Mathias'.  Ericka saw this one coming and made the boys watch the movie the week before the vacation... 

Disney World favorites - burning rubber

At the Tomorrowland Speedway the boys summoned their inner speed demons.  Think of it as getting to drive a not-so-fast race car with training wheels to keep you from going off track or colliding with anyone.  While you're zooming along at a practically-warp-speed seven miles per hour the car is securely kept on track for a more enjoyable ride for the adult co-pilot. 

If you asked whether the boys enjoyed it, you must not have met them... 

Disney World favorites - saving the universe

Buzz Lightyear is battling evil emperor Zurg to keep him from taking over the universe. And he needs your help! 

Jump into a spaceship, grab an 'ion blaster' and start firing at Zurg and his minions!  And we did. Again and again.... It was by far the attraction we did the most times at Disney World. Johan, being especially enamored with all things Toy Story enjoyed this ride. At the end of it all, Mom was the undisputed Galactic Hero scoring twice as many points as the rest of us combined.