Disney World vacation  from June 3 to June 9 2016

       After some deliberation I have decided that most of the pictures will be at the bottom of this vacation story.

      Thank you, Barbara, Grandma, and Mommy for taking me to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.   We had planned our vacation to start the day after I finished kindergarten, but school was extended one day due to extensive flooding in all of Houston a month ago, so I had to miss the last day of school.

      I developed a fever on June 1^st and still had it on June 2^nd, so Barbara and Mimz took me to the doctor to get a diagnosis and medicine.  Barbara couldn’t get an answer or appointment over the phone, so she drove to the doctor’s office and talked to them in person.  She got me an appointment at 9:30am.  My highest recorded temp was 102.2.  I kept saying, “ I want to go to Disney World”.  I was sick and excited all at the same time.  It was viral, so they were happy that medicine would help my fever and I would be okay to go on vacation.  Mimz took me home with her so Barbara could work on getting ready for our vacation.  She had to take GGM and GGF to the grocery store so they would everything they needed for the week.  (Uncle Andy came to check on them or called every day during our vacation.  He even had breakfast with them one morning.)   I was well before June 3^rd.  That fever meant I missed the last two days of school.  My teacher took a bag of my school supplies and some of my work to the office, so when Barbara went there with a doctor’s excuse she was able to get my things.

      Grandma spent the night with us because we had to get up very early (around 5am) to drive to the airport, park our car, and make our way through security and then wait three hours for the plane to depart.  Two of those hours were caused by a mechanical problem. Barbara brought some almonds, candy, and a can of Pringles (especially for me) so we had snacks to munch on. 

     I had flown two previous times, but this is the first time I was old enough to really remember my flight.  I was so excited and I insisted on having the window seat so I could look out the window and see us taxi, lift-off, and watch as we went higher and higher.   Barbara had gum to share to help keep our ears from hurting.  She also brought eye patch covers to help anyone who wanted to nap.

     I ended up sitting in the middle seat and the aisle seat also so I could experience them all.  The middle seat was good so I could put my head on Mommy’s lap and my feet on Grandma’s lap.  The aisle seat was good so I could easily get up to go to the bathroom. Barbara took me to the bathroom the first time, and from on then I was able to go by myself.  Mommy likes to sleep while flying because it makes her anxious.

      I had big round eyes when we were landing.  I was not scared, just enjoying the experience.  We went straight to a Disney bus that was waiting to take us to the Coronado Springs Hotel, one of the Disney resorts.  

 It was about a 30 minute drive.  I slept part of the way.  There was a man named John at the hotel door who greeted us wearing a Mickey Mouse hand.  We saw him some mornings and every afternoon. 

      We didn’t even have to check in at the front desk.  Our luggage magically appeared in our room soon after we arrived.   I shared a queen size bed with Mommy.  Barbara and Grandma shared one.  It was a normal nice clean hotel room.  

    On the national news they are reporting that the Zika mosquitoes are in Florida and Disney World.  They were working behind the scenes to control mosquitoes.  It said park goers should use their mosquito repellent just like they use sunscreen.  So every day we put on both of those things.  None of us got sun burnt or bitten by mosquitoes.  

      We dropped off our carry-on bags, put on sun-screen and insect repellent, and headed to the bus to EPCOT.  We chose that as our first park to visit because we wanted to only spend half a day there.  Most of the bus rides to and from the hotel were about 20 minutes long.  The waiting time to catch a bus was between zero and 20 minutes.  I loved it when I had to stand up because the bus was full.  Men or younger women always offered their seat to Barbara and Grandma.  Barbara always 

accepted.  Grandma declined a couple of times.  She is a pretty strong lady for a grandma.   

      The first line we stood in was to go through security, where they looked through all bags.  The 

first time through, Mommy had to be “wanded.”  We think she was just a random selection because it never happened to any of us again.    

      All of the employees were very friendly.  I think that must be a part of their job.  They all could give directions to any place in the park and could answer all of our questions.     

      We noticed that at EPCOT wheelchairs were there free of charge for anyone that wanted one.  At all the other parks they cost $12 a day.  Electric scooters were $70 a day.   They had thousands of strollers for rent also.  

See our Disney wrist bands?  Mommy had red, Grandma had green, Barbara had pink, and I had blue.  They had been mailed to us at home.  This band did everything from opening the hotel door, getting you into the park, and charging to your credit card.  The second stop was where we put our Disney wrist band and a finger up to a “reader.”  The fingerprint would assure that the right person was wearing the band.  When both lights turned green we proceeded into the park.   We each had a different color band so it was easy to tell which band belonged to which person.  Our name was also written inside our band.  We also were given a mug that matched our wrist band color.  This mug was for unlimited drink refills at the hotel, but not in the park.

     Disney World is a bit costly to visit.  Examples: A two-day pass was $202 for one person.  A bottle of diet coke was $3.50.    The lunches we ate, which consisted of three entrees like cheeseburger, chicken tenders, meatloaf, etc; three desserts; three large drinks; and a kids meal.  Total cost: $68!  We were on a meal plan so we didn’t pay that much.   Souvenir t-shirts were at least $25 and some were a lot more than that.   

The desserts were pretty impressive.

EPCOT: 

#1   Spaceship Earth: History of Innovation.  It was a slow ride through that great big golf ball. 

#4   Mission Space - We were astronauts on a trip to Mars.  Mommy is bothered by the fast roller coasters but she would continue to ride them with me the entire vacation.  Grandma and Barbara rode a couple of them but didn't enjoy them so they sat most of them out.

#6    Test Track -  We designed a new car.  Then we test drove a car.  High speeds and sharp turns.  Signs told us which when we were going to turn so you could be prepared. 

#12   Seas with Nemo and Friends  -  this was a cute show.  Almost all of the attractions were rides.

Hollywood Studios

#10  (2 times)  

#11

#12

#15   ate

#25  ate

#26  (2 times)

#31  (Mommy and Mason)

#33  (2 times)

#34

Magic Kingdom    

#14    Swiss Family Tree House  -  Grandma and I climbed up in this tree house.  Grandma explained the story to some people who had never heard of the book or movie.  This movie was a favorite of Mommy's and Andy's when they were little kids.

#17    Jungle Cruise -  This was a nice gentle boat ride where we saw all kinds of animals (not real).  The boat driver told lots of funny jokes.

#25    Splash Mountain  - another high speed ride in which you get wet.  Barbara sat this one out and held all of our bags.

#26    World Railroad  -  Barbara and Grandma rode this old time train to get to the other side of the park quickly.

#28     Big Thunder Mountain Railroad  -  Mommy and I rode this train-roller coaster.

#36  (2 times)  Hall of Presidents  -  Barbara and Grandma went to this attraction twice to see robotic presidents.   George Washington and Abraham Lincoln made speeches.  Walt Disney really liked Lincoln.  Obama also made a speech.

#37     Haunted Mansion  -  This was the only attraction that none of us liked.  It was not scary.  It was not anything much.

#43     It's A Small World  -  This slow boat ride was a favorite of Grandma's so we had to go to it.  Barbara and Grandma rode it at the World's Fair in New York City when they were 16 and 6-years-old.   It is a cute show with a cute song.  Later in the day Barbara heard me singing the song to myself.
#45    Mickey's PhilharMagic - Barbara and Grandma saw this show.  It was okay.

#53    Under the Sea, Journey of the Little Mermaid - Another slow cute show.

#59    The Barnstormer -  This was a roller coaster for children but still was a fun ride.  Grandma and I rode it.

#60     Pinocchino's Restaurant  -  we ate here twice.  Cheeseburgers, salads, chicken tenders, mac and cheese.

#70  (4 times)    Tomorrow Land Speedway -  I drove a race car.  Two time with Mommy.  Then once with Grandma.  And the last time Mommy and I were in a car ahead of Barbara.

#71     Space Mountain   -  Another fast roller coaster.

#73     People Mover  -  A nice ride above the ground that went around part of the Magic Kingdom.

#76      Monster's Inc. -  Not much.  Not funny like it was supposed to be.

Monorail – We rode from Magic Kingdom to EPCOT

       We decided not to go to Blizzard Beach mainly because I was swimming every day in the hotel pool  and I have a season pass to Splash Town at home.  That gave us an extra day to go to the other parks.

        At the hotel either Grandma and\or Mommy got into the swimming pool with me.  They both went down the water slide once.  I went down it several times.  Barbara watched a couple of times.  The two times she watched she took me over to the marshmallow roasting.  I quickly learned all the safety rules.  I had four marshmallows the first time and three the next time.  I found I do like the burnt outer layer of the roasted marshmallow.

      

      The last night at the hotel they were showing the movie Aladdin and I wanted to watch it, but there was a big sand box and I ended up playing in it the with other kids.  We jumped into the swimming pool to clean off the sand.  Mommy did watch the movie.  Grandma and Barbara got themselves and me all packed so the next morning only Mommy needed to pack.  Barbara and I shared one bag.  Grandma and Mommy each had their own bag.

     

     On Thursday morning we took our bags to the transportation stop.  They sent the three big bags to the airport and we checked our carry-on bags so we could claim them later.  We took a bus to Disney Springs to look for souvenirs for Daddy (t-shirt), Anna Kate (an outfit and headband), Anthony and me (Disney hand sanitizers on a key chain), and Alyssa (a very cute colorful Disney bracelet).   Disney Springs is mainly just shops and restaurants.  They do have a Lego site.  Kids can sit down and build with Legos. 

  

     Back at the hotel we ate lunch.  We saved some of our chicken tenders and french fries in sandwich bags to eat later.  We also got cinnamon rolls and cookies for our last “snacks” to eat later.  I put on my Mickey hands and helped John, the man at the front door, greet people.   At 3pm we took a 30 minute drive to the airport.   We made it to our gate with an hour to wait.  I had toys in my Star Wars bag to entertain me.  I had a sponge ball that I tossed against the wall.  We played Old Maid.  Mommy lost both games.  We colored with a magic marker.  The food Barbara brought came in handy.  We ate it all either while waiting or on the plane.  I ate the last of the can of Pringles.  Mommy and I both slept most of the 2 ½ hour flight.   We were lucky to catch a ride on a golf cart to baggage claim.  We got our bags, took shuttle to our car, and at 8:15 we headed home.  GGM and GGF were waiting for us and were happy to have us home safe and sound.  I crawled into bed at 9:40pm. I think I was asleep in less than a minute.

     On our entire vacation, my behavior was never really bad.  Mostly I just got impatient with the waiting in line, just like 100,000 other kids (and adults).  The heat and humidity and two days of rain didn't help.  I just can’t stand still.  I have to climb on everything.  It was funny listening to parents trying to keep their children in line.  In the bathroom, one mother told her kids, "There is not a choice, this is a potty break, you will go NOW!"  Another mom said, "I am calling the babysitter NOW!    

    While standing in line, we watched a young couple playing a hand game.  We asked them how to play.  They told us and said it makes the standing-in-line go by quickly.  We played it several times.  It is easy and fun.  Ask me.  I'll tell you how to play.

     Mommy developed a large blister on the ball of her foot.  Barbara had two blisters on the bottom of two toes.  (band-aids really helped her.)  One time I said I sprained my ankle, but I quickly forgot about it.  Grandma and Barbara both took something every morning and evening to help their legs not ache.  No one got sunburned. Barbara thought she was over heated one day so she went back to the hotel before the rest of us one day.  But mostly we all felt pretty good the entire vacation.

**** Not finished.  Will work on this again soon.*****

 

  June 3

 My first "ride" was the moving walkway at the airport.  We had a long wait so I got to ride this a few times.

 I couldn't just sit in my chair.  I was on the move every second of every day.

This in the entrance to our hotel.  Impressive.

 We waited at the bus stop to catch a bus to the park.  Mimz had three new outfits for me and I wore them the first three days of our vacation.

 Under the Sea entrance.

Yikes!

 I had to climb on everything.  I had so much energy that I needed to get out.

End of the first day at EPCOT

June 4

 We started each day taking a picture of me, so we would know what I was wearing in case they lost me in the crowd.  That was not likely to happen, since my three adults were constantly watching me and each other.  I rarely would hold their hand.   We decided that our Disney wrist band knows where we are in the park so that would help in locating lost people.  Sometimes when we would be at the end of a ride, there would be a sign saying something like, "Come back again, Christina and Mason."  So the ride knew we were right in front of that sign. 

Our first stop at Hollywood Studios was the sign up for Jedi Training.  My time was 2:10pm.

Guess what I did while we waited in line?  A hint is I didn't just stand there.

 

Mommy showed me how to use this old-fashioned pay phone.

Here I'm entertaining myself while we waited for something.

 Oh gosh!  Stormtroopers!

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I followed them carrying my laser. 

Grandma bought us a water bottle with a fan attached.  We took it with us every day and it did help cool us off .

Another one of those pretty desserts.

I took a quick nap while we waited for the Indiana Jones show to start.  I really really liked this show because it was full of action.

 Ah, I loved seeing Olaf!

The room Olaf was in was very cold... otherwise he would melt.

I started to leave, then I ran back to give Olaf a hug for Anna Kate.  I know she will love these pictures of Olaf and me!

Doc McStuffins measured my height.

Princess Sophia was so pretty.

Oh how many hours have I watched Jake and his Neverland Pirates!

I gave him a hug also.

Minnie Mouse was so happy to have me there.

And the biggest star:  Mickey Mouse!

 Finally it was time... for my Jedi training!

We checked in, were given a robe, and light saber, and we walked as a large group a couple blocks to the place where our training would happen.

This was one of the moves.

Darth Vader was huge!

And I hade to fight him!

I give it all I had!

I ducked to keep from being stuck...

Finally he gave up.  Oh, what fun for me!  I couldn't wait to tell Daddy about this.

It rained on two days we were at Disney World.  Ponchos did a great job keeping us somewhat dry.  There were professional photographers all around the park taking pictures.

 This was taken from a video of us dropping several floors in the Tower or Terror.  The front row left was Grandma, Barbara, me, and Mommy.  Barbara was the only one of us who kept her cool.

June 5

 I slept well all night every night.

At the hotel ready to eat breakfast and head off to anther day of fun in a Disney park.

We spent this day at Animal Kingdom.

Lizards.

Lions.

Tigers.... no bears.

Ostrich.

From elephants....

...to ducks, I enjoyed them all.  There were lots of other animals too.

 This entire park was like a jungle, so there was a lot of shade.

Grandma acting like a kid.

We heard it was going to rain, so we hurried to our bus stop and made it before the rain started.  We were under cover waiting when it did start raining.  And we wanted to make this a short day because we had plans to come back after dinner.

Grandma and I went swimming at the hotel before dinner.

 I saw this bird and borrowed Barbara's phone to take it's picture.  This is a large body of water at the hotel that swimming is not allowed in.  It might have alligators in it.

Around 7:30pm we got on a bus to Magic Kingdom where we sat on a curb eating cotton candy.

When it got dark we watched an amazing electric parade.  Later we watched fireworks.

June 6

 I'm in my element when I can climb.

A cute gentle ride thru "It's a Small World."

Mommy and I rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

We were stunned at the number of strollers and wheelchairs.  There were people of all ages!  This place is for everyone, not just children.

I loved driving the race car at Tomorrowland Speedway....

I did this four times!

I got my face painted like the character "Sully."

I was one happy boy.

 While we waited for a show to start, I rested.  This was something that a lot of children did.

Every day after dinner, I went swimming in the hotel pool.  This night we stayed out late.

June 7

We came back to Hollywood Studios because I wanted to watch the Indiana Jones show again.  This is what the entrance looks like.  Barbara and I people watched while Mommy and Grandma made a plan.

Grandma and Barbara went off to ride an old train to get them to the museums about the Presidents.  They found a couple of chairs to rock in while they waited for their show to start.  Mommy and I had better plans.  We went off to another big roller coaster ride.  Mommy was a good sport about riding them with me.

 We wanted to ride this steam boat, but somehow we never made it to the Tom Sawyer island.

There were all kinds of things for kids to play on and use their imagination.  We took 700 pictures and I was in most of them often doing things like this.

The Indiana Jones show was the best!  Well... Jedi training was just as great.

The Green Army man.

Now this was a funny story:  We went to Toy Story twice.  Barbara and Grandma were in one car and they thought they did great with scores of around 16,000 each.  Mommy and I were in another car and we had 50,000 points each.  Grandma and Barbara were shocked at how poorly they really did.
The second time we rode it, we all improved, but they still didn't come close to our scores.

One more roller coaster ride.  I loved them all.

And of course, we ended this day at the hotel pool.

June 8

The Disney people think of everything:  Here a worker is drawing a picture of Micky using a mop and water.

Standing in line to drive another race car...well, I don't actually stand in line.  I find someway to make it fun.

A funny thing: There was a traffic jam on the race track!

Grandma and Barbara went back to the Hall of Presidents to watch the wax figures of all of the presidents.

Barbara and Grandma are both positive there is a grammar error on this paper.  It was posted in front of a dress worn by Dolley Madison.

Again my swimming at the hotel pool.

Roasting marshmallows in a pit near the pool and ....

...eating what I cooked.  Yummy!

June 9

 This last day we went to Disney Springs to purchase a few souvenirs.  The only attraction there was Legos. 

 Can you find me with this family of Legos?

This was the neatest picture made of Legos.

I worked hard to get this water wheel to work.  I had to have a little help to get it started but after the water was flowing I could do it my myself.

Back at the hotel, I worked on a mask with some other kids.

  I put on my Mickey hands and helped John welcome people to Disney World.

This Goofy figure was at the Orlando airport.

At the Houston airport, we road a cart to baggage claim.   Again, thank you Mommy, Grandma, and Barbara for a wonderful week at the happiest place on earth!  And I was glad to be home again so I could see Daddy, Mimz, GGM, GGF, Papa, AK, and the rest of my family and friends.
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