Best End of Week Getaway, pt. 1

Intro

Okay, remember how I posted a tiny bit about going to Chicago almost two weeks ago last week? Well, that was a mini-trip that lasted from Tuesday to Thursday and the reason I had to get home on Thursday (night) was that I had another trip to take Friday morning. (And the disgusting thing is I'm writing this post as I enjoy another out-of-New York adventure). Now, finally, I want to start telling you about my great trip that I took two weekends ago...(I made a teeny tiny allusion to this trip in my 1000th Post)

Ahem.

Actual Post

Two weekends ago I got up really early to take a trip. To Florida!!


With Michelle!! (if you like to be entertained, ponder the woman in the background)


The purpose of this trip? To go to Disney World, of course. Just before taking the trip Jeff (Butler) gifted me Don's old Mickey Mouse hat that Don had left behind when he moved. It was sort of one of those gifts where some people are like "Ha ha, now you have Don's Mickey Mouse ears" but I'm like "No way...now I have Don's Mickey Mouse ears. Now I can take my Florida vacation!"


Ahh, Florida!


Since we got to Orlando in the middle of the afternoon (and this was all planned) we decided to go to a water park, particularly, a water park at Disney World called "Blizzard Beach." But before we could go there we had to take our first Disney ride, the Manhattan Bus Simulator Experience!


Turns out it's tricky getting to water parks within Disney World. We had to have a short layover at the Animal Kingdom Lodge before we could go to the water slides.



(Oh, and also on the way we past this bizarre McDonalds. I know, some of you go to Disney World all the time and this Aqua Teen McDonalds is no big deal to you, but me, I was fascinated)


Blizzard Beach! At last!


Blizzard Beach was a delight. It was themed like a melting ski resort and the whole place sparkled with Disney magic! (No, really. I just described something as sparkling with Disney magic.) There was a ski lift that took you to the top of Mt. Gushmore, all sorts of water tobaggon rides, the swiftest lazy river I've ever encountered, and the world's second tallest big-drop waterslide, the Summit Plummet! (Featuring a 120 foot drop) I avoided my trip down the Summit Plummet until the end of my day at Blizzard Beach and now I sort of wish I did it first thing (and then over and over). The slide was so insanely steep that, when you sit down to go, you see nothing in front of you. Your legs just slide away from you into nowhere and then you're going straight down. I landed going something like 55 miles an hour, which is a crazy thing for just a body to do. (And I saw other people break 60mph, which is insane.) [In the photo here the Slush Gusher {also great} is in the foreground and the Summit Plummet is the slide disguised as a ski jump in the background.)


This was one of my favorite slides, the tobaggon race. I always won! I was so fast at it. (these rather empty looking pictures were taken by me as the Disney workers were trying to corral everyone out of the park after it closed at 5. I was tempted to bring my camera with me on all the slides, protected from the water by a sandwich bag, but I think leaving it in the locker was the right idea.)


Additional photos taken during our eviction:





Our big day of water slides wore poor Michelle out.


Right by Blizzard Beach there was a snow-themed mini-golf course. Tempting.


To get back to our hotel we had to wait for our bus at Animal Kingdom. We lucked into an assembly of Disney luminaries outside the park when we arrived.




And then it was time to learn a lesson that would dominate the weekend: Free Hotel Busses...you must wait.



Please join me next time at Steady Mobbin' for an obsessive post detailing the differences between Disney Land and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Thank you.