Disney World

After quite a few years, Mark's work schedule finally allowed for a winter vacation. We debated a few places (Dominican Republic, for one) but settled on Disney. We had fond memories of our honeymoon there.

We were there from Saturday to Friday, staying at the Wilderness Lodge Villas at Disney. We figured the convenience of transportation and "experience" was worth it to stay on the resort. The villa also gave us a separate bedroom so that we could manage Abigail's naps and early bed time without us being in the same room.

One of the things we were most worried about was Abigail's sleeping arrangements. She's moved into a daybed at home, and we figured she'd either be sleeping on the bed in the bedroom or on the pull out couch. We were in the room for about an hour when she noticed the pack and play in the closet and said "That's my bed." So she slept in a pack and play for 6 days. Go figure.

We spent two days each at Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom and one day at EPCOT - although we could have used more time at EPCOT. When you only get time from park open (9:00 or so) until 12:30 or so to do anything, time flies fast! You just can't skip nap time. After nap it was hang around for a bit and head out to dinner. Although we pushed nap time most days and it was often get up from nap and rush to get to dinner on time.

As with all our vacations, good was an important part. We ate dinners at: Artist Point (Wilderness Lodge), Rainforest Cafe (Animal Kingdom), Liberty Tree Inn (Magic Kingdom), Rose and Crown Pub (UK at EPCOT), Jiko (Animal Kingdom Lodge) and the California Grill (Contemporary resort). All were good in their own way although I could have done without the Rainforest Cafe. Eating at Jike brought back fond memories of the honeymoon (we stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge) and Abigail liked seeing the animals there. Our dinner at the Rose and Crown was probably the most relaxed and enjoyable one we had. Abigail had a great time demolishing some icrecream. And for anyone who doesn't know (we missed this) the Liberty Tree Tavern does "family style" dinner. Plates of sliced meet, mashed potatoes, vegetables, etc for everyone to share. It wasn't what we expected but it was a good option (although expensive for what you get). Ok, so it was ALL expensive for what you get.

We also ate breakfast with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore at the Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom. This was a great experience and our own "real" breakfast the whole week. Abigail loved meeting them all for the first time. And getting into the park early for breatfast (8:20!) was an unexpected opportunity to take pictures with no crowd. We got pictures up Main Street with almost no one else in them.

Other lunches were at random "fast" food places in the parks. I wasn't very impressed. For the price, and for Disney, I'd expect better. And we were disappointed to find that McDonalds no longer has fry/nugget locations in any of the parks. After walking around for a while there's not much better than McD's fries and a Coke.

Of the parks, Abigail enjoyed Animal Kingdom (Safari, twice) and parts of Magic Kingdom. She got to meet Mickey and Minnie at Magic Kingdom which was very cute. She was even more excited than when she met Pooh. At Magic Kingdom she spent a lot of her time in Pooh's Playful Spot (essentially a playground, go figure) and liked the Dumbo ride and taking the train around the park.

All in all, a, somewhat, stressful vacation trying to fit everything in but everyone had a good time. Unfortunately it didn't take long for work to wash away any remnants of the Happiest Place on Earth!