And We're Back...

Howdy Ho! We're back from a fun filled week at my favorite spot on the entire planet, the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fl. We had tons of fun, rode lots of great rides, walked miles and miles, ate a bunch of yummy food, and slept very little! We got to ride Expedition: Everest, the newest thrill ride to the Disney line-up. It's a steel coaster that twists you in every which way forwards and backwards, outside and in pitch black darkness. It is a fantastic new ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom park. Also new at Animal Kingdom is Finding Nemo: The Musical. It's a lavish live stage show using puppets similar to the ones used in The Lion King broadway show. We didn't get a chance to see this new Nemo musical, as the line was several miles long 45 minutes before showtime, and when you've got two little kids in your party you've gotta keep the line waiting to an absolute minimum! We did however get to ride their other new attraction based on FINDING NEMO. At EPCOT they've got The Seas with Nemo and Friends, where you board a clammobile and ride through scenes that briefly summarize the events in the movie. The end of the ride uses super cool technology to make it appear as if Nemo, Dory, Marlin and all the animated cartoon characters from the movie are swimming right along side real tropical fish. It's pretty cool!

Over at the Disney/MGM Studios we finally got to see the Lights, Action, Motors Stunt Car Show. It had just opened the last time we were there, but it was also well over 100 degrees the last time we were there and we knew a stadium that holds several thousand people would be a fairly miserable experience in extreme heat. The show is pretty good, you have to walk close to a mile to get from the entrance to your seat but they blow up enough stuff in the show to make it worth your while. At the Studios, the kids also got a chance to see Lightning McQueen and Mater (from CARS) upclose. Both Elias and Tanner were completely awestruck when they saw the race car and tow truck face to face. (They did look just like they do in the movie!)

I've also got to give some props to little 41" 3-year old Elias who now has some major thrill rides under his belt. He rode Test Track, which goes from 0 - 60 in a matter of seconds...he liked it even though he wet himself in the process. Elias also took on the 5-story drop of Splash Mountain. He was laughing when the ride was over while also saying, "Ha Ha! We're not going to do that again are we?!" He even had a blast on the Tea Cups, which I stopped riding in my teens because it makes me sick!

Of all the new stuff we did, and all the classic and favorite attractions we experienced my favorite moment from the trip came on Sunday night, our first full day at the Magic Kingdom. Elias went crazy while riding Pirates of the Caribbean. As soon as our boat splashed down the little drop and we entered the town where the pirates are running amuck, Elias went wild yelling at all the pirates and waving an imaginary sword at them. He was having the time of his life! When we got off the ride he was still yelling and screaming about all the pirates and he was talking in his own little gruff pirate voice. When we entered the obligatory end-of-ride gift show, I bought Elias a pirate hat, sword, and hook for his hand. While I was trying to pay for it all he was running around the store yelling for Captain Jack Sparrow and calling me Captain Daddy.

I got Joey a cheap little sword as well, and he played with Elias (in full pirate gear) in the plaza outside the giftshop for a good 15 minutes sword fighting and yelling pirate-y things. It was a blast! I've included a handful of pictures here from our pirate adventure! I'm slowly getting all our pictures up over in the Photo Album so check them out when you have some time. Obviously, I've got a few more Disney World themed posts planned for the next several days!