melcreada | Finally! Disney! Disney! Disney! (Reply)

Let me start off by saying JP is a brave man to take me to an amusement park. Rides (yes, even weenie Disney rides) have traditionally given me major stress and the heebie jeebies. Whether this is due to not visiting a whole lot of amusement parks as a child, I don't know. To compound the fact, my first roller coaster experience at age 18 (on the Rattler, one of the largest wooden coasters in the world) was not pleasant. I know everyone talks about andrenaline rushes and whatnot, but all that ever happens to me on most rides is that I work myself up into a terrified frenzy beforehand, scream my head off, and then get sick. Not fun. But this story is about the Magic Kingdom and I have already derailed. >_<

ANYWAY. Back to JP and his extreme patience and good humor, putting up with one highly strung girlfriend in the happiest place on earth. We actually arrived in Tampa on Saturday morning and were taken care of by Jen and Gary, JP's very good friends and possibly the most generous pair I have ever met. JP and Jen have been best friends since college and when he decided to plan a trip to Disney, he contacted her right away.

We were promptly whisked to Jen's parent's beach house for a little relaxation. It was so cute and RIGHT ON THE SAND! The weather was beautiful and the water warm and full of jellyfish! We swam a bit trying to avoid the little buggers, but we still got stung a couple of times. JP managed to avoid a rather nasty sting to the crotch when one floated between his legs. And there was much rejoicing. Yea.

Afterwards, we went to Jen and Gary's house and swam in their pool and then went out for Amish food! It was so good! The next morning, they insisted we eat at the Waffle House since I had never been and then we headed out to Disney. Jen's parents are also Disney Resort Club members, so we were able to stay on property, in a one bedroom at the Wilderness Lodge. So. Freaking. Nice. The lobby was gi-normous and so beautiful with all the dark wood and rustic furniture. The room had a separate bedroom, a pull-out couch in the living room, a full kitchen, and the biggest, nicest bathroom I have ever seen! Treated glass in the biggest stand-alone shower EVER and a drool-worthy whirlpool bathtub.

We decided to hit Epcot that day and my first ride was Spaceship Earth, which is actually one of the few things I remember about the park from a visit long ago. <3 We also went on Fast Track and I freaked out, although the video JP took of me shows me laughing. I am weird. We wandered around and rode more rides, but cut the visit short so we could go have African food at Boma's. Not bad, but I think I've finally found a type of cuisine I would not eat voluntarily. ^_~

Later, we went to the Magic Kingdom since they were open late for their Halloween nights. We saw Mickey's Philharmagic (3-D show), which I LOVED. Ariel comes right out of the screen and is SO lovely.We rode lots of kiddie rides (Pooh was probably my favorite) and I'll confess that I screamed on Pirates of the Caribbean (the drop at the beginning). The Peter Pan ride was rather romantic. Haunted Mansion at night was perfect, but Buzz Lightyear made me queasy/dizzy. I had fun, but the stress was starting to get to me and I was getting a bit grumpy/overemotional. My favorite thing that night was the haunted ferry, where we were entertained by the Masked Riders and a fantastic gal who told a ghost story.

The next day we hit MGM studios where JP, realizing the magnitude of my "issues," did not really try to get me on the Tower of Terror. *pets him* I did get on Star Tours, a very realistic simulator, and I enjoyed it. Go, me! We took the backlot tour, where JP volunteered to be part of the action (pictures in my LJ gallery in the link below). I also enjoyed the Great Movie Ride. <3 After going back to the room to rest, we went to Pleasure Island and visited JP's favorite place, the Adventurer's Club, which is filled with actors who put on skits and interact with the crowd. It was great fun!

The next day was Animal Kingdom, which is just GORGEOUS. Half of it is set up like an Asian jungle, with temple ruins and lush foliage. The other half is made to look like a Moroccan village, although it is supposed to be "Africa." Just beautiful. The tree of life blew me away (picture below). The Festival of the Lion King ROCKED. I went on my third "scary" ride, Dinosaur. Didn't like it AT ALL. It whips you around in the dark really fast. That was more scary to me than the actual dinosaurs. JP thought I was pathetic at this point and I don't really blame him. I am pathetic when it comes to rides; my hands were shaking so bad when I got off that stupid ride. They have lots of animals there, but it doesn't feel like a zoo at all. Very much liked the park itself.

Our fourth day in the parks was just for me and we spent it entirely at Epcot. Big, big <3! We went to all the countries and ate at the Japanese fast food place. I also had my first chocolate croissant and it was just *bliss* Saw lots of circle vision movies and went on the "Rio Del Tiempo" which consisted of a bunch of scary Mexican puppets and short TV spots from 1970 showing Mexicans happily serving white tourists. Retch. We saw street performers in England and I fell in love with the stave church in Norway. Japan had lots of anime goodies in their store, including some really nice Lupin dolls and Miyazaki musical statues. JP bought me an oyster and the lady opened it to reveal a 7.25 mm silver-black pearl. Aw! She cleaned it up and hit the gong to announce that my pearl was large and rare. Like me! LOL...

Thursday was spent at the Magic Kingdom, where we rode most of the rides again and, yes, I got on Splash Mountain. That may not sound like a big deal, but I was PETRIFIED. I screamed at every drop. I'm glad I did it, though the disgusted looks from the 7-year-old kid sitting in front of us was kinda humiliating. I LOVED the Swiss Family Robinson tree house and could have easily spent an hour or two in there. We then went back to MGM to ride Star Tours again and stuff. I went on it a total of 3 times. Go, me! That night we hit Disney Quest, which was much fun. We played the Pirates of the Caribbean game and kicked booty! We played some other virtual reality stuff, but it wasn't as good (mainly because the head visor kept pressing my glasses into my face, which was most painful). But all in all, much fun!

Friday, everyone went their own separate ways and I managed to swing into Animal Kingdom for one last Lion King show, stop by MGM studios to get a shirt I wanted, and finally spent the rest of the day in Epcot. Had bangers and mash along with a pint at the Crown and Rose in England. Hurrah! That evening JP, through his "inside connections," got wind of a mighty sale of Disney goodies at a local high school gym. We drove out there and found out "mighty sale" is code for "gigantic free-for-all." It was AWESOME. All kinds of Disney toys, clothes, etc. marked 70% off. No rhyme or reason to anything - just a few hundred people grabbing whatever they could get their hands on. Our bill was about $400 prior to the discount, but we payed only $120. Oi! ^_~

Saturday we traveled home and ever since, I have been working/trying recover from my allergy/cold from HELL/writing my 20-page paper and presentation for class. But I figured it was time to update. Hope ya'll made it this far. If you click on the link below, you will see all four pictures I took at the parks (I know, I am lame). Anyhoo, glad to be home. Guess I should unpack...