[KarenWDWCP]

Sorry it has been a million years since I added to the trip report. This is getting ridiculous! I am going to try and wrap it up with what I remember even though the trip seems so long ago now! I am also having some trouble wiht images on my computer so I may not be able to add many photos.

[KarenWDWCP]

Ok, so we started our next Disney day with more delectable pastries from the Marketplace at the Beach Club. I fell in love with the chocolate croissant there. After breakfast, we hopped on a bus and headed to the Magic Kingdom, hooray!

I always get so excited walking into the Magic Kingdom. Youjust can't beat that feeling! We stopped for a few photos on Main Street and then I asked my parents which direction they wanted to go in. My mom always accuses me of making them keep up a ridiculous pace in WDW and I was making a concerted effort to be more relaxed this trip. It was not easy!

My dad opted to head into Liberty Square first. I stopped and had them take my picture at the entrance to Liberty Square from the Hub. For the past three and a half years I have worked at a historic site in Boston that is the place where Sam Adams gave the secret signal for the start of the Boston Tea Party so I always like to get my picture taken with the tea crates at this spot. Here's the picture:

[Andrea]

Glad you're back! Keep going!

[KarenWDWCP]

We headed into Liberty Square and rode the new Haunted Mansion which was great - I loved the upgrades! We then headed to Frontierland and rode Big Thunder (my mom's favorite!) The wait was almost non existant which was awesome. We strolled over to Adventureland and rode POTC. My dad had not ridden it since they added Capt Jack so he really enjoyed that. Then my mom decided we needed to buy gifts for my little cousins after all. Surprise, suprise! She also wanted to buy something small for my roommates who were checking the mail and keeping an eye on my parents' house while we were away. We spent some time in the Pirates shop since one of my roommates loves Pirates but didn't find anything there.

We then took a spin on the Jungle Cruise which we haven't ridden in AGES. It was lots of fun and I will definitely hit it up again on my next trip. We then made our way over to Fantasyland to ride my favorite as a five year old - It's a Small World! I can't take a trip to WDW and not ride IASW! We grabbed FPs for Peter Pan (I will never wait in the standby line for that ride anymore!) We rode Snow White while we waited, another oldie that I haven't ridden in ages because I remember being terrified by it as a child! We saw Philharmagic, one of my new favorites and then decided to grab some food.

I have always wanted to try the Figaro Fries at the Village Haus so we went over there and got a small pizza to share and two orders of fries. The CM taking our order told us that the fries only came with bacon and cheese but since we didn't really know what they used to come with, they were fine with us. It was nice to take a little break and refill our tummies and then it was off to use our Peter Pan FPs.

We took a trip over London and reminisced about the days when all three of us fit in one of the boats! This time we had to split up into two and one. After Peter Pan, we were done with Fantasyland so we headed over to Tommorowland to finish our time at the MK. We rode Buzz (another favorite of my mom) Space Mountain and caught the Laugh Floor for the first time. My dad LOVED the Laugh Floor. He thought it was hilarious just like Turtle Talk with Crush.

We headed out of the park at that point and went down Main Street. We had to stop for some shopping at the Emporium now that my mom decided that we needed to get souvenirs for everyone.

My dad waited for us out on the street while we shopped and when we came out he was enjoying one of the Main Street Family fun parades or whatever they are called. He loves, loves, loves a parade in a ridiculous little kid kind of way. There have been countless times at WDW when my mom and I have started heading out of a park or moving along and then we realize that we have lost my dad to the parade. He stands there and waves at everyone and dances along. It is really pretty funny. Here he is, enjoying the parade. (Notice there is basically no one else watching the parade!)

[KarenWDWCP]

We left the Magic Kingdom and jumped on the monorail to Epcot. We immediately made our way to the Coral Reef where we had ADRs for dinner. My mom and I had eaten here on our trip with my Aunt in 2006 but my dad had never been. He was so confused while we waited for our table here. He kept saying "Didn't there used to be an aquarium here." And I said that yes, there was an aquarium and it was still here and we were there a few days before (when we rode Nemo and saw Turtle Talk, though I have to give him some credit, we really didn't venture into the tank part of the Seas that day). Then he kept saying "When did they move the aquarium and put in this restaurant?" and I kept saying that the restaurant was always there IN the aquarium. It wasn't until we walked into the room and he saw the tank in the restaurant that he understood what was happening.

We had a delicious meal at Coral Reef and enjoyed watching all the fish. After dinner, we headed over to the World Showcase where we caught a late showing of the American Adventure and rode El Gran Fiesta in Mexico. Then we staked out a spot for Illuminations. We enjoyed Illuminations as always and then strolled leisurely out of World Showcase back towards the Beach Club. As we headed out of the park, we decided to hit up the ESPN Club for the end of the Sox game yet again.

We watched the Sox game (I believe they won another close one in dramatic fashion), my dad made new friends (again!) and then we walked back to the Beach Club and turned in for our last Disney night!

[dancing4disney]

Glad to see you are finishing your report. I now know where you work and hopefully will be able to visit this summer. I am teaching 5th grade this year and need to catch up on my history!

[lisalovesmickey]

Ohhhh I love your dad. He is so sweet. That is awesome!

Lisa

[KarenWDWCP]

Originally Posted by dancing4disney

Glad to see you are finishing your report. I now know where you work and hopefully will be able to visit this summer. I am teaching 5th grade this year and need to catch up on my history!

Absolutely! Any and all Mousebuzzers are welcome at Old South Meeting House!

[dznylvr]

Your dad is just awesome!!
You have to just a full grown man who can enjoy a parade so much. That what Disney is about!

[KarenWDWCP]

Ugh, this really is taking me a million years to finish - sorry everyone. By the time I finish it, it will be time for my August trip!

Anyway, we woke up on Thursday morning and packed up all our stuff and loaded the car - it was our last Disney day. Our original plan had been to hang out in the Boardwalk area, eat breakfast at Spoodles and then leave around lunch time for Port St Lucie to visit my mom's aunt. Eventually, we changed our plan and decided to stick around longer and hit up the parks again - hooray!

We ate a light breakfast at the Marketplace for the last time and then jumped on the Boat to the Studios. We rode RnR which my dad had wanted to do the day before and then my mom and I rode the Tower again. We caught a little of the Beauty and the Beast show, shopped a bit (as my mom had now at the last minute decided that we needed to buy gifts for everyone at home, of course!) and then headed over to EPCOT for our last afternoon.

On our way out of the park, my dad had a good time with at Oscar's Gas Station, telling everyone it was 30 cents a gallon and they should all drive their cars into the park to fill up. He even made us take a ridiculous picture of him pointing to the gas price on the pump. He also wanted me to pose for a picture there because he remembers this ridiculous video of the New Kids on teh Block from a million years ago that was filmed at MGM and I loved it and watched it over and over again. Anyway, my favorite New Kid filmed his segment at the gas station so my dad always harasses me about it when we are in the park. The guy can't remember things I told him yesterday, but he remembers the VHS tapes I used to watch when I was ten. Unbelievable!

[KarenWDWCP]

Here's the silly gas station shot.

[KarenWDWCP]

We spent a little bit of time in EPCOT, mostly shopping at MouseGear and then walked around and out through the International Gateway. We did spend some time in the Garden Center for the Garden Festival and enjoyed watching the "Making Of the Festival" video they had in there.

We walked over to ESPN Club for late lunch/early dinner. It was pretty much empty and delicious. My mom had wanted to buy a shirt that I had seen there 2 days earlier for my little cousin but of course, it was gone. We ended up buying the last of our souvenirs in the Beach Club gift shop. Finally we were done with shopping and WDW and had to hit the road to go to Port St Lucie for the last part of our vacation.

We had a totally uneventful drive - way easier than our drive from Tampa to Orlando. My favorite town that we passed on the way? Yeehaw Junction! How fun is that?

We got into the Port St Lucie area a little earlier than expected and checked into our hotel. Since we were there earlier than we planned, we called my mom's aunt to see if she wanted to get together then, but it was a little late for them. So we walked over to Chilis from out hotel, had some snacks and drinks and then called it a night.

[KarenWDWCP]

I'll combine our last two days into one summary since there was no WDW involved so it is not as exciting. We spent Friday hanging out with my mom's aunt and uncle at their place. My dad and uncle golfed while the girls just caught up. I hadn't actually seen my aunt since I was about 16 so it was really great to see her. Growing up, she lived in the same two family house as my grandma and she was always my favorite great aunt. She moved to Florida when I was about 9 and I spent a fun two weeks at her house one summer where I learned how to swim in her pool, visited WDW, etc. She visits us in Boston less and less now that she is older and my mom and dad had last visited her in 2000 when I was on my college program but it had been ages since I saw her so it was good to catch up!

We met up with my mom's cousin and her husband for dinner. It was even crazier seeing her since I hadn't seen her since I was around 12. She just kept laughing because she couldn't believe I was actually an adult. Dinner was delicious and we just spent the night chatting and catching up again.

[KarenWDWCP]

Our next day, which was our last day in Florida, we checked out of the hotel and headed over to my aunt's house again. We grabbed breakfast at Cracker Barrel which I was super excited about! I love Cracker Barrel and we really don't have any up here. It was delicious. Then we took a little tour of the area, visited some beaches, the locks, a park. It was really nice. Sadly, there was a dead manatee being removed from the water at the locks. It was really, sad but amazing to watch them get such a giant creature out of the water. The animal control/rescue people there said they would take him back and do tests to find out what the cause of death was. He didn't look to have been recently injured by a boat so I'm not sure what happened.

We spent the last part of our afternoon back at my aunt's place, and then headed off to the West Palm Beach airport. There was tons of construction on the road to the airport and the drive was awful due to lanes constantly dropping and merging. We returned our rental car (I think my dad was thrilled to be done driving in Florida!) and grabbed some food in the airport before getting on the plane for our bumpy flight back.

My aunt and uncle (who had been in WDW the week before us) picked us up at the airport and brought us back to my parents house and then it was off to bed.

THE END! Phew, I can't believe I actually finished it!