Disney World Breakdown--2

Thursday 9/25-- Our first full day at the parks. We decided as a group that we would go to Animal Kingdom park this day. The morning started off rocky because we found out that our stroller that we dragged ALL the way from Nashville has a flat. And no one on property could fix the thing. For all of you that haven't been to Disney World in Florida, it is NOTHING like Disneyland! You are in the middle of a marsh and can't see any buildings that don't have the mouse influence. So when I say that no one on "Property" can fix this tire, I'm talking about a 47 square mile area. But lucky for us, David and Linda were coming on Saturday to visit so we called them up and asked for a tire...or two. So till Saturday, we had to deal with what we could get on property. When we finally got to the gate of the park, we

were surrounded by characters. I went inside to get any kind of

stroller that was left while the rest of the group waited to meet some very fascinating people. We are convinced that they have to have some kind of cooling system in those costumes because it was about 86 degrees without the humidity, and it was bad all week. Donovan isn't a big fan of all the "fuzzy" characters in the parks. But that doesn't stop parents and grandparents from getting the perfect picture.

Roxy had been convinced that some of the rides here are a little scary but worth trying once. She impressed me the entire trip. While walking next to the standby line to Splash Mountain, a little boy about 8 years old was crying because he was so scared of the ride. Roxy saw him and asked us why he was crying. Aaron told her that he was afraid to go on the ride. Roxy walked by and told the boy that it wasn't scary and he needs to try it once. And if he didn't like it...he never had to go again. The mother asked Aaron how old Roxy was and when she heard 3, she couldn't believe it. She looked at her son and said, "Look!!! that girl is only 3 years old and she's not afraid! Suck it up, you are going on this ride!"

It made me question myself on whether or not I would have done that to Roxy if she refused a ride. And I think...yes, we would have tried to force her. I just hope that I wouldn't be that harsh. Lucky for us, Roxy didn't fight a single ride, she was willing to try all of them.

I think that I have found a new "favorite" ride. Everest was absolutely awesome!!! It was amazing how smooth it was and how they incorporated new technology flawlessly with the old. Roxy was really sad that she wasn't tall enough for this ride. I know that once she is tall enough, she will LOVE to ride this one with her Mom.

After a Huge lunch, we went on Kali River Rapids and for the first time I didn't get soaked. There was someone on the boat with less luck than myself. In this case, it was a married couple from Washington on their honeymoon. We had as much fun as we could stand and finally had to take off to get to our Dinner reservation back at the Magic Kingdom. But before the dinner, I decided to sign up for a free story time offered with our package through AAA. So we made tracks to the buses and were off to the Magic Kingdom...again.

We finally made it to the Magic Kingdom and were able to hit a few rides before our story time adventure started. We hit all the little rides in Fantasyland and then made our way back over to Main Street. When we entered the room, they were about to start but there were hardly anyone in the room. It was awesome!!! Just having room to spread out and not have people everywhere was such a relief. We didn't know who was reading the story to the kids but were pleasantly surprised to see that it was Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. She read a story that I have never heard before and when she was finished, she spent time with every single kid in that room. There were about 7 girls (including Roxy) and Donovan was the only boy. He had more fun crawling on the floor than listening to any story. That was a great moment for us to slow down for a half hour and relax in the air conditioning. But it didn't last forever and we were back into the mobs.

The Crystal Palace had a very nice buffet set up for dinner. We noticed a trend while we were eating, Roxy gets really cold in all their restaurants. Aaron brought a sweater for her for the rest of the week after tonight. We got to meet all the Winnie the Pooh characters. They visited our table so we just sat there and took pictures while we ate. That is the way to meet characters, sitting and eating while they come to you. Roxy really got into the Autograph collecting while we were there. After dinner we went on a few more things and were able to find a good spot to watch the fireworks. Donovan loved the fireworks and the music. It was a fun day in all but we were more than ready to head back to our rooms for a good sleep. Tomorrow, we are going to tackle EPCOT.