Orlando, '010!

Last week's trip to Orlando was totally awesome. Pretty much everybody who reads my blog was there, so instead of recounting the 4.5 days in painstaking detail, I figured I'd just list the things we did:

Day 1:

Arrive, meet Mom & Dad (M&D) & LilSis (LS) at the airport, met Grandma & Grandpa (G&G), checked into our super-fantastic condo. Ran to Publix for some dinner-ish food and other supplies. Dinner and hop in the pool before heading to bed.

Day 2:

Up at a semi-leisurely hour, then headed to Hollywood Studios, fka MGM.

Attractions visited at Hollywood include:
- Indiana Jones stunt show
- "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" play area (Dad & LS only)
- Extreme car stunt show
- Muppet Vision 3D movie
- Star Tours simulator
- Studio backlot tour
- Tower of Terror (you will NOT get me on this a third time!)

Mid-afternoon, G&G went back to the condo while the rest of us headed over to Epcot.

(From Disney trip(s) as a child, I have these vague memories of Epcot being a horrible place, where M&D dragged us around to look at boring, educational stuff about a bunch of different cultures and countries, and we had a nap in the big round movie theater playing a boring movie about Canada. So I was not super-excited to go back. But it was [thank goodness] way better than I remembered!)

Attractions visited at Epcot include:
- America-land restaurant (hurray for eating double cheeseburgers at Epcot...)
- Living with the Land boat ride
- Mission Space simulator (both green AND orange levels!)
- Spaceship Earth ride
- Project Tomorrow games, etc.
- The Seas ride with Nemo (why, yes, I have ridden in a Clamobile, how about you?)
- fireworks show at the end of the night

Another visit to the pool at the condo before bed.

Tired yet?

Day 3:

Sort of slept in again.... breakfast before heading to Animal Kingdom to start our second Disney day.

Attractions visited at Animal Kingdom include:
- Dinosaur ride
- Expedition Everest roller coaster (Dad only)
- "It's Tough to be a Bug" 3D movie
- Kilimanjaro Safari
- Primeval Whirl spinning roller coaster (Dad & me only)
- Lion King show
- Finding Nemo show (G&G only)

Time for a break from Disney - we went back to the condo for naps, swimming, and dinner.

Insert an irritating phone call from Giant Veterinary Corporation (we will not dwell on the details), and Dad actually got the 4 of us from the condo to the Magic Kingdom parking lot in 16 minutes!

We had just about 2 hours to spend at Magic Kingdom, and I think we spent it well:
- It's a Small World ride (couldn't miss it)
- Spinning Teacups ride
- Photos with Disney princesses for LS
- Haunted Mansion ("do not lower the safety bar. *I* will lower it for you")
- fireworks!

Day 4:

Thinking that 4 Disney parks in 2 days was plenty, we slept in a bit on Day 4, then headed (in a sort of meandering way, aided by multiple GPS systems) to Kennedy Space Center.

We went on the bus tour, had our pictures taken with a dude dressed as an astronaut, watched (and/or slept through) the Hubble IMAX movie, and went on the "shuttle launch experience."

A trip to the beach had been in our tentative plans for the afternoon, but we had too much fun at the space center so just went back to the condo afterward. More swimming, more dinner... you get the idea by now. Had a give-a-show, hung out, chatted, and went to bed.

Day 5:

Departure day for G&G and me! M&D&LS probably ready to get rid of us. :-)

Slept in extra late (10:30-ish?), then all piled into 2 cars and GPS-ed our way to Waffle House. No room for us to sit there, so Plan B went into effect and we ate at IHOP instead. Then back to the condo for packing and off to the airpot.

All in all, it was a super-fun trip and such a nice break from Colorado life for awhile. As with all travel, though, it felt really good to get back home. And my sunburn never did end up peeling off!