Yesterday I promised that I would write all about our vacation that we took in February, so here goes:
Back around Christmas time, Bryant and I had discussed how we were going to spend our tax refund check if we got one back this year. Originally the plans were that we were going to rent a U-haul truck and move everything from our spare bedroom to the storage shed so that we could actually have a spare bedroom and not just a room to store stuff in. We both came to the realization that that was not what we really wanted to do at all, and decided that we really needed a vacation since the last few months had been rather stressful. Once we both came to the conclusion that a vacation was what we wanted to do, we started discussing options as to where to go. We finally chose Disney World since Bryson is at the age where he is really starting to watch more Disney channel. He knows all the characters and interracts with the shows that he watches, so we thought that it would be an excellent idea, and turns out it was. After it was decided, I started to get more anxious as the days passed and would log onto the Disney vacation website and look at everything from meal plans and reservations to the parks and things to do around Orlando.
The first time that we had went to Disney with Bryson, we stayed at a resort on the property and decided that was the way to go the next time we went, so I started looking at all of the different resorts that were offered. We chose to stay at the Disney All-Star Movie resort this time. It was an ok resort, the only bad thing was that all 3 of the All-Star resorts were together and had to share buses to the parks. Since our resort was the last of the 3, we had to wait a while for a bus because most of them were full when they finally got to us. Normally, I don't have a problem with waiting, but when you add a 2 year old to the mix, it makes things a little bit difficult, so we decided that the next time we go, we will not be staying at the All-Star resort and would just stay at Pop Century like before.
We got to Orlando on Sunday, February 20, 2011 at around 2:30 or 3 PM and got checked into our room. After getting settled in, we went down and caught a bus to go to the Magic Kingdom. There were extended hours for resort guests that night, so we got to stay until 3 in the morning! We walked around for a while and rode a few rides and at the end of the night we watched the firework show. Everytime one of the fireworks would go off, Bryson would start yelling "Boom! Yeah, there it is. Look!' and then start calling out the colors that the fireworks were making once they popped. Bryson fell asleep in his stroller a little after the fireworks had ended, so we decided that we were going to ride a few rides and then call it a day. I was in line to ride Space Mountain, and wouldn't you know, as soon as I got close to the front of the line, the ride broke. I wasn't a happy camper, but I quickly got over it. We had fast passes to ride The Buzz Lightyear ride. Bryant went first and I sat with Bryson, it was a really good ride. If we hadn't of gotten the fast passes, we probably wouldn't have gotten to go on the ride at all. The wait time was always at about 90 minutes for the standby line. After that, we went on Splash Mountain. That was the first time that I had ever ridden it and was shocked that I was able to walk right in and get straight on without any wait. Pirates of the Caribean, Aladdin, and the Jungle Book rides were next. Of course we had to ride by ourselves because Bryson was asleep and we didn't want to wake him up, but that's ok. While I was on the magic carpet ride, Bryant had sat on a bench across from a little cart that sold the glazed pecans and was being tortured by the smell of them. Come to find out, they were out of the pecans when we went to ask about them, but said that there would be more ready in about 20 minutes, so I decided to ride the Jungle Book ride, (it's much better in the daytime by the way.) and said that we would get some after I got off that. We went back to the little cart after waiting and the cast member said that they were all out the bags to put them in, so Bryant was out of luck. We went back to the resort after that.
The next morning we got up and headed down to the food court to grab some breakfast before heading to Hollywood Studios. While there we walked around and went in several of the stores. Bryson got to play on the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playground and had a blast. He didn't want to get back in his sroller, so he went in kicking and screaming that he wanted to play. After the playground we went over and he got to meet Lightening McQueen and Tow Mater. He was as happy as a kid in a candy store about that and once again, didn't want to leave. We finally convinced him that it was time to go and then went and rode Aerosmith's Rock'n Roller Coaster. I think that is the best ride there. It goes from 0-60 in about 2 seconds, so you better be holding on! While there, Bryson got to get out of his stroller and RUN! He really enjoyed that. After the Rock'N Roller Coaster, we caught a show called Disney Channel Rocks, Basically it was just a dance party of sorts with cast members singing songs from the shows on Disney Channel. Bryson seemed to enjoy it, so we stayed and watched, and then met Handy Manny. After that it was lunch time. We ate at Pizza Planet and boy was it good! After lunch, Bryson got to meet Buzz and Woody and after that it was time to head back to the room.
On the third day, we went back to the Magic Kingdom and the first thing we did was get Bryson a haircut at the Barber Shop on Main St. It was way overdue and he desperately needed one. He did really well and actually sat still for the most part while the lady cut his hair. After the haircut, it was almost time for the parade. Bryson LOVED it! Up next was meeting the princessess. The wait time said 30 minutes, but I'm pretty sure that we were in line for more like an hour and 30 minutes. Bryson fell in love when it was his turn to see the princesses! First up was Sleeping Beauty, next was Cinderella, and finally he saw Belle. He was in major flirt mode with all of them. After the princesses, we were walking and happened to catch Pirate Goofy over by the Pirates of the Caribean ride with hardly a wait at all to see him. Bryson loved meeting Goofy too, or BOOFY as he calls him. After meeting Goofy, Bryant got in line to ride the Pirates of the Caribean ride (can you tell that that is his favorite?) and Bryson got to run in a little corner area until he couldn't run anymore. He fell asleep in his stroller and we rode Pirates a few more times. A cast member was telling us that Mickey and Minnie Mouse were pretty much right around the corner, so we hurried over there and stood in line and waited and waited and waited. It felt like we waited forever, but it was so worth the wait to see the look on Bryson's face. When he got out of the stroller to wait his turn, he was dancing in place and jumping up and down hollering "Look, Mick Mouse, Minnie Mouse. Look!" When it was his turn, he ran up to them and gave them the biggest hug ever. He was so happy! Bryson was so excited that he fell asleep shortly after we got to see the mice. Up next was dinner and then it was back to the resort for some rest.
The next day we decided to go to Downtown Disney and walk around. It was nice just to get out and walk and not have an agenda. We had lunch at the T-Rex Cafe and I think that was the most money that we had ever spent on a meal in the entire time that we had been married, but it sure was good! Bryson got to dig in the playground outside the restaurant for dinosaur bones and boy was he loving that. He didn't want to leave even to go eat. We finally got him calmed down a little when dinner came and he was asleep shortly after we left. After lunch and a stop at Ghiradelli's we called it a day and headed back to our room.
The next day we ran to the Super Target to get Bryson some swim trunks and a few other things that we needed but just happened to forget to pack. The plans for after Target and lunch were to go to Epcot to walk around the world. We got to Epcot, but didn't stay long at all. Bryson decided that he had had enough for one day,so we went back to the resort and hung out for the rest of the night.
Friday was a lazy day. We hung around the resort and went swimming. Later that night we met up with my friend Konnie who I met on an internet board when I was pregnant. Her daughter is one day younger than Bryson. It was really nice getting to see her again!
Saturday we went back to Epcot and walked around the world. While there, Bryson got to meet several of the characters. He met Stitch, Daisy, Chip & Dale, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, Minnie, Mary Poppins, Marie the Cat, Jasmine, and Aladdin. It was quite an eventful day! He liked meeting Donald and Goofy the most. After we left Epcot, we went back to the resort for some more swimming! The next day was checkout, so we gathered all of our stuff up and decided to go to Animal Kingdom. After waiting for over an hour for a bus to come pick us up that wasn't full, we went ahead and called it a day and headed home. It was so nice to be on vacation away from everything and not have to worry about anything! We will definitely have to do it again soon.
I know that this post was long, but I hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed reliving the memories from our vacation. And on a side note, I just want to say that it's a good thing that I put all of the things that we were doing while on vacation on Facebook, otherwise I probably wouldn't have remembered.
Back around Christmas time, Bryant and I had discussed how we were going to spend our tax refund check if we got one back this year. Originally the plans were that we were going to rent a U-haul truck and move everything from our spare bedroom to the storage shed so that we could actually have a spare bedroom and not just a room to store stuff in. We both came to the realization that that was not what we really wanted to do at all, and decided that we really needed a vacation since the last few months had been rather stressful. Once we both came to the conclusion that a vacation was what we wanted to do, we started discussing options as to where to go. We finally chose Disney World since Bryson is at the age where he is really starting to watch more Disney channel. He knows all the characters and interracts with the shows that he watches, so we thought that it would be an excellent idea, and turns out it was. After it was decided, I started to get more anxious as the days passed and would log onto the Disney vacation website and look at everything from meal plans and reservations to the parks and things to do around Orlando.
The first time that we had went to Disney with Bryson, we stayed at a resort on the property and decided that was the way to go the next time we went, so I started looking at all of the different resorts that were offered. We chose to stay at the Disney All-Star Movie resort this time. It was an ok resort, the only bad thing was that all 3 of the All-Star resorts were together and had to share buses to the parks. Since our resort was the last of the 3, we had to wait a while for a bus because most of them were full when they finally got to us. Normally, I don't have a problem with waiting, but when you add a 2 year old to the mix, it makes things a little bit difficult, so we decided that the next time we go, we will not be staying at the All-Star resort and would just stay at Pop Century like before.
We got to Orlando on Sunday, February 20, 2011 at around 2:30 or 3 PM and got checked into our room. After getting settled in, we went down and caught a bus to go to the Magic Kingdom. There were extended hours for resort guests that night, so we got to stay until 3 in the morning! We walked around for a while and rode a few rides and at the end of the night we watched the firework show. Everytime one of the fireworks would go off, Bryson would start yelling "Boom! Yeah, there it is. Look!' and then start calling out the colors that the fireworks were making once they popped. Bryson fell asleep in his stroller a little after the fireworks had ended, so we decided that we were going to ride a few rides and then call it a day. I was in line to ride Space Mountain, and wouldn't you know, as soon as I got close to the front of the line, the ride broke. I wasn't a happy camper, but I quickly got over it. We had fast passes to ride The Buzz Lightyear ride. Bryant went first and I sat with Bryson, it was a really good ride. If we hadn't of gotten the fast passes, we probably wouldn't have gotten to go on the ride at all. The wait time was always at about 90 minutes for the standby line. After that, we went on Splash Mountain. That was the first time that I had ever ridden it and was shocked that I was able to walk right in and get straight on without any wait. Pirates of the Caribean, Aladdin, and the Jungle Book rides were next. Of course we had to ride by ourselves because Bryson was asleep and we didn't want to wake him up, but that's ok. While I was on the magic carpet ride, Bryant had sat on a bench across from a little cart that sold the glazed pecans and was being tortured by the smell of them. Come to find out, they were out of the pecans when we went to ask about them, but said that there would be more ready in about 20 minutes, so I decided to ride the Jungle Book ride, (it's much better in the daytime by the way.) and said that we would get some after I got off that. We went back to the little cart after waiting and the cast member said that they were all out the bags to put them in, so Bryant was out of luck. We went back to the resort after that.
The next morning we got up and headed down to the food court to grab some breakfast before heading to Hollywood Studios. While there we walked around and went in several of the stores. Bryson got to play on the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playground and had a blast. He didn't want to get back in his sroller, so he went in kicking and screaming that he wanted to play. After the playground we went over and he got to meet Lightening McQueen and Tow Mater. He was as happy as a kid in a candy store about that and once again, didn't want to leave. We finally convinced him that it was time to go and then went and rode Aerosmith's Rock'n Roller Coaster. I think that is the best ride there. It goes from 0-60 in about 2 seconds, so you better be holding on! While there, Bryson got to get out of his stroller and RUN! He really enjoyed that. After the Rock'N Roller Coaster, we caught a show called Disney Channel Rocks, Basically it was just a dance party of sorts with cast members singing songs from the shows on Disney Channel. Bryson seemed to enjoy it, so we stayed and watched, and then met Handy Manny. After that it was lunch time. We ate at Pizza Planet and boy was it good! After lunch, Bryson got to meet Buzz and Woody and after that it was time to head back to the room.
On the third day, we went back to the Magic Kingdom and the first thing we did was get Bryson a haircut at the Barber Shop on Main St. It was way overdue and he desperately needed one. He did really well and actually sat still for the most part while the lady cut his hair. After the haircut, it was almost time for the parade. Bryson LOVED it! Up next was meeting the princessess. The wait time said 30 minutes, but I'm pretty sure that we were in line for more like an hour and 30 minutes. Bryson fell in love when it was his turn to see the princesses! First up was Sleeping Beauty, next was Cinderella, and finally he saw Belle. He was in major flirt mode with all of them. After the princesses, we were walking and happened to catch Pirate Goofy over by the Pirates of the Caribean ride with hardly a wait at all to see him. Bryson loved meeting Goofy too, or BOOFY as he calls him. After meeting Goofy, Bryant got in line to ride the Pirates of the Caribean ride (can you tell that that is his favorite?) and Bryson got to run in a little corner area until he couldn't run anymore. He fell asleep in his stroller and we rode Pirates a few more times. A cast member was telling us that Mickey and Minnie Mouse were pretty much right around the corner, so we hurried over there and stood in line and waited and waited and waited. It felt like we waited forever, but it was so worth the wait to see the look on Bryson's face. When he got out of the stroller to wait his turn, he was dancing in place and jumping up and down hollering "Look, Mick Mouse, Minnie Mouse. Look!" When it was his turn, he ran up to them and gave them the biggest hug ever. He was so happy! Bryson was so excited that he fell asleep shortly after we got to see the mice. Up next was dinner and then it was back to the resort for some rest.
The next day we decided to go to Downtown Disney and walk around. It was nice just to get out and walk and not have an agenda. We had lunch at the T-Rex Cafe and I think that was the most money that we had ever spent on a meal in the entire time that we had been married, but it sure was good! Bryson got to dig in the playground outside the restaurant for dinosaur bones and boy was he loving that. He didn't want to leave even to go eat. We finally got him calmed down a little when dinner came and he was asleep shortly after we left. After lunch and a stop at Ghiradelli's we called it a day and headed back to our room.
The next day we ran to the Super Target to get Bryson some swim trunks and a few other things that we needed but just happened to forget to pack. The plans for after Target and lunch were to go to Epcot to walk around the world. We got to Epcot, but didn't stay long at all. Bryson decided that he had had enough for one day,so we went back to the resort and hung out for the rest of the night.
Friday was a lazy day. We hung around the resort and went swimming. Later that night we met up with my friend Konnie who I met on an internet board when I was pregnant. Her daughter is one day younger than Bryson. It was really nice getting to see her again!
Saturday we went back to Epcot and walked around the world. While there, Bryson got to meet several of the characters. He met Stitch, Daisy, Chip & Dale, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, Minnie, Mary Poppins, Marie the Cat, Jasmine, and Aladdin. It was quite an eventful day! He liked meeting Donald and Goofy the most. After we left Epcot, we went back to the resort for some more swimming! The next day was checkout, so we gathered all of our stuff up and decided to go to Animal Kingdom. After waiting for over an hour for a bus to come pick us up that wasn't full, we went ahead and called it a day and headed home. It was so nice to be on vacation away from everything and not have to worry about anything! We will definitely have to do it again soon.
I know that this post was long, but I hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed reliving the memories from our vacation. And on a side note, I just want to say that it's a good thing that I put all of the things that we were doing while on vacation on Facebook, otherwise I probably wouldn't have remembered.
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