The REAL Disney Magic

Going to Disney at Christmas was the BEST way to start my Christmas vacation. It was perfect--although a bit cold.

Friday after the Faculty Christmas Luncheon (I won beer again, woot!) Tanya and I headed to Orlando. I bought a Disney vacation package about a year ago and couldn't book it when Liz was in town, so I decided to save it for Christmas, and I'm SO glad I did. It was three nights at a resort and two tickets for two people to two parks at Disney. The drive up was a little intense because it had been raining ALL DAY and it continued to rain into the evening, but we got there in about 4 hours and had an early and relaxing night at the resort.

The next day we decided to hit the park in the afternoon and stay until the fireworks at night, so we needed something to do in the morning. The front desk recommended this place called WonderWorks, which was like a sciency play place. It was pretty fun, I have to say. It was a perfect morning.

Here's me in a space suit... My shoulders were too broad to really fit inside. lol

And here's me laying on a bed of nails. Surprisingly comfortable!

Yay for nerdiness on vacation!

After lunch at WonderWorks, Tanya and I headed to the Magic Kingdom where we were planning to meet Lora and her friend Sammy. Tanya and I got to Disney just in time to get a prime spot for Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas Parade. Yay Disney Christmas magic!

Here's me on a decorated light pole. Can't resist the cheesy photo ops!

Once we met up with Lora and Sammy, we headed to Space Mountain (new and refurbished!). It was worth the 90 minute wait! We also rode The Haunted Mansion (it was kinda special and delayed, lol), the Jungle Cruise (pun-tastic!), and I think that was all! I just wanted Disney Christmas magic, so the rides didn't matter that much.

At 6:15, they have a Castle lighting ceremony that was perfect. I almost cried it was so beautiful. And I found out Tinkerbell is actually a Tinker-tranny (she's played by a boy), which was kind of magical in it's own way. lol.

So anyway, Cinderella's Castle gets all lit up for Christmas, and it's so pretty and magical it makes me want to cry. This picture doesn't even do it justice at all, but here's a group photo.

*sigh*

The next day, Tanya and I went to Animal Kingdom, which I wanted to see because I've never gotten the chance. Here's the Christmas tree that greeted us.

I actually ran into a high school friend in line for Everest, the first ride we made it onto. She gave us the scoop on what to see, so we had a plan for the day. Everest was fun (a roller coaster type ride), and I wanted to be sure to go on the safari, and the "It's Tough to be a Bug" show in the Tree of Life, and the dinosaur ride was a must as well. We actually tried to do the dinosaur thing first, but it was broken so we had to wait and come back. The lines, though, weren't bad at all. I don't think we waited more than an hour to do anything.

Okay, so the safari was cool. You basically ride around and, like, see animals and crap. There's a story line to it, just like with every ride at Disney, but I just wanted to see the animals, and see animals I did. Here's one of the giraffes next to a Baobab tree. Awesome.

After the safari we managed to make it onto the dinosaur ride, and here's our souvenir photo to prove it. :)

By far the coolest thing at Animal Kingdom is the Tree of Life. It's the central focal point of the park, kind of like Cinderella's Castle at Magic Kingdom, and I'd seen a special on it on the Travel Channel. Up close, it's beautiful. It's intricately carved and extremely beautiful.

After our animal-filled morning, we headed back to the resort to chill for a bit. I napped and Tanya watched the end of the Dolphins game. That night, we went to Downtown Disney to play at Disney Quest and eat dinner. Disney Quest was fun, it's a bunch of virtual reality type games and activities, and I got a cute little boyfriend from Honduras who told me I was cute on the Magic Carpet game. We were in love for two minutes and it was awesome. lol

We ate dinner at The House of Blues, then went back to Disney Quest until 9:45, when we went to see The Princess and the Frog. I kind of love the fact that I saw a Disney movie at Disney. And it was a good movie, too. I really enjoyed it!

The next morning, we ate breakfast at a Waffle House, which makes me so happy. Waffle House brings happiness to my soul, I can't even lie. We were back in Miami by 2 after a great weekend.

I'm currently back in Michigan for the holiday and I'll be here til the 30th. I'm excited to be here and can't wait for it to snow!

Merry Christmas and much love.