| Disney World:
Since we were going to Florida anyway,
it was decided that we may as
well take
a side trip with the kids to Disney World. We
left a couple days early,
made
arrangements and reservations on-line for flights, Hotel's, rental cars
etc. and started
our
journey in Buffalo, NY. We discovered that flying out of Buffalo
would be
significantly cheaper than from Toronto, and driving
through U.S.
customs
is much easier than waiting in those huge lines at
Terminal 2 in
Pearson Airport, Toronto. The Buffalo Airport is very well set up and
we had
"checked-in" and printed off boarding passes on-line through Southwest
Airline's website, so we only had to check our luggage and show up at
the
correct
gate... this was of little consequence.
It was Robbie, Livvie and Maddie's first time on a jet airplane, so
they were
all very excited. The staff aboard our Southwest Airline was
outstanding!
They told
jokes and sang songs and were generally a pleasure to fly with. One of
the flight
attendants also realized something special was going on with such a big
travel
party and started talking with Mom & Dad and upon discovery that
they
were
celebrating their 50 wedding anniversary, they made a special
announcement
aboard the PA. I highly recommend flying w/ this airline! Our flight
had a stop-over in Baltimore where we had some lunch, and then it was
on to
Orlando... to
pick up our rental cars and make way to the Hotel.
Lunch
in the Baltimore Airport
|
Our
Plane
|
Upon
arrival at our Hotel, we checked in and then had some dinner @ a close
by TGI
Friday's. The kid's went for a swim at the pool with their Oma and Opa,
and Angie
and I went shopping for some souvenirs. We later met up w/ my brother
Jim, his
daughter (my niece) Rebecca, my sister Wendy and her husband (my
brother-in-law) Joe, who had come down to Florida a couple days earlier
to go
to the Epcot®
and MGM®
Theme parks as well. We only had enough time to go
to the Magic
Kingdom®, which, for kids is the main event anyway.
The day we were at Disney's Magic Kingdom, was extremely hot, about
32° Celcius! It was also very busy... but we had lots of
walkie-talkies
in case
anyone got separated from each other. In spite of the heat, everyone
had a ball, and
the
"Speed-pass" is an excellent time saving device for many of the more
popular rides. Later in the afternoon, some very unsettling
weather rolled through
the Orlando area and there was a torrential downpour of rain for about
10
minutes!
We later learned that this was what
was left of hurricane "Dennis"... It then cleared
up and got even more humid. You will see the cloud
formations in
some of the pictures below.
Here are some pictures of Disney:
Main Enterance to the
Magic Kingdom
|
Cinderella's Castle
|
Posing w/ Minnie
|
Posing w/ Walt |
I
guess Walt overcame his fear of Mice!
|
Fireworks
over Cinderella's Castle are set off every hour
|
Robbie wasn't behaving so
we had to take drastic measures!
|
That wasn't
allowed so I got a taste of my own medicine!
|
Splash Mountain
|
All
Aboard Splash Mountain! |
Big Thunder Mountain
Railroad
|
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad |
Frontierland
|
Frontierland |
Barbershop Quartet on Mainstreet USA |
Pirates of the Caribbean
|
Pirates of the Caribbean
|
Pirates of the Caribbean
|
Jungle Cruise
|
Jungle Cruise
|
Jungle Cruise
|
Jungle Cruise
|
Pride Rock
|
Cinderella's Castle
|
Disney's "Dream Come True"
Parade
|
Disney's "Dream Come True"
Parade
|
Disney's "Dream Come True"
Parade
|
Disney's "Dream Come True"
Parade
|
Disney's "Dream Come True"
Parade
|
Disney's "Dream Come True"
Parade
|
Disney's "Dream Come True"
Parade
|
Disney's "Dream Come True"
Parade
|
Watching the Parade
|
Disney's "Dream Come True"
Parade
|
Olivia: Fun at Disney!
|
Robbie: Hoping his dream
will come true!
|
At the Star Command Ride
|
Remnants of Dennis over
"Tomorrowland"
|
Tomorrowland
|
Something seems
to be stuck! |
Robbie gives it a good try...
|
Maddie's turn to try and
free the sword...
|
Maddie, Livvie and Robbie
all give it a try!
|
It's A Small Word
Afterall: Holland
|
It's A Small Word
Afterall: Austria
|
It's A Small Word
Afterall: Hawaii
|
It's A Small Word
Afterall: Monkeys
|
All Aboard the "It's a
Small World" Tour
|
By
the end of the day, we had had our fill
and
everyone was tired.... but at the same time, excited to start the next
phase of
our vacation- The Cruise.
Forward
to Eastern Caribbean Cruise:
|
