The next day, we cleaned up our shells and wondered why we were all red and sore! Despite our best efforts of being diligent with the sun screen, we all ended up with sun burn. L So, we relaxed around the house and decided to go back to the beach when the sun was not as ferocious – to grill out for supper and watch the sun set over the gulf. It was absolutely perfect again (it was sunny & 80 each day we were in FLA!). We again got some cool shells as the tide came in and the sunset was gorgeous. The water was a little warmer also, but we still couldn’t get Ann in past her ankles…Dad cooked out burgers and dogs on the grill and we ate up on the pool deck at the Sand Pebble. We jumped in the pool for awhile and then headed back down to the beach to watch the night come…
The next day, we were up early to head to Mickey’s house. It was only about an hour drive to Orlando, even at Dad’s pace. J We stopped at Bob Evan’s for breakfast on the way, which may have proven to be Ann’s downfall…but we’ll get to that in a moment. So we get to Disney World and eventually find our resort. Grandmaw took care of the accommodations, and since they were FLA residents – they got discounts on the hotel as well as tickets, so they also picked up tickets for the kids for the two days! They couldn’t buy our tickets though, since we’d have to show ID to prove our residency. However, Ann had saved up a bunch of reward points over the past 5 years that allowed us to pay for most of the tickets! Anyhow, she set us up for the night at the All-Star Sports inside Walt Disney World. It was fine, but the half hour wait and the 20 minute ride on the bus to Magic Kingdom stunk. It was much nicer to just hop on the monorail and be there in 5 minutes! They have a separate rail that stops at the resorts, so they’re not nearly as crowded either. But our resort was still very nice. The kids loved the basketballs & hoops. Ann got to know it very well. Not even two hours in to our visit, she began having abdominal issues. By lunch, she was falling asleep, standing in line for a ride. She went back to the resort around 2 to lie down and never returned. After checking out Main St. USA, we were off to Tomorrowland. We especially enjoyed Space Mountain, Stitch’s Great Escape and the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin rides. Luke loved his first “major??? roller coaster experiences. J …as well as riding the Astro Orbiter with Grandpaw! I won the Buzz ride, scoring over 250,000 points! We ate lunch at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. Next we went to Liberty Square . I was bummed to see the Hall of Presidents was under repair. We loved the Haunted Mansion! By the time we had ridden every single thing in those two lands, it was dinner time and Grandpaw & Grandmaw pooped out on us, leaving the kids and I free roam of the park the rest of the night!
We decided to head over to Frontierland next and ate dinner at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn. We especially enjoyed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Tom Sawyer Island. We had never taken the time to go over there in the past visits. The kids thought it was very cool to explore the trails, especially the caves and forts. Next, we checked out Adventureland for a couple hours before heading back to the castle to check out the nighttime SpectroMagic parade and fireworks. Although it was a crappy place for the parade (we were four rows deep, which was fine when everyone was sitting; but as the parade started, everyone stood up and by then, it was too late to move!), it was prime time for the fireworks. In fact, I would say it was nearly the ideal place to see them! This year’s fireworks display was called, “Wishes.??? Tinkerbell flew over our heads at the beginning of the program, which was really cool. Afterward, we got a couple souvenirs and headed back to the dreaded bus stop. As the park was closing, the line was – of course – huge and it took 3 buses (about 45 minutes or so) to get on and then it was standing room only. The kids got to share a seat, as I stood in front of them and they slept the entire way back…
