The Magical World of Disney (or Magic Always Comes With a Price, Dearie)

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After our days at Universal, we moved on to the main attraction: Disney World!

We arrived in a torrential downpour, which happened a lot during our time in Florida. Apparently all that greenery requires precipitation.

Our trip was pretty magical. I won't go through all 7 days, but I want to hit the highlights. 

Our hotel was awesome. We stayed at one of the "monorail" resorts, the Polynesian. This made our lives so much easier and added so much to our vacation. 

The kids were a little freaked out when this guy danced with fire at the luau. But I thought it was cool. 

Staying there made it possible to spend much more of our time in the Magic Kingdom, which is really the only park worth a full day at Disney World. We spent a few full days at MK plus a few evenings. Like the evening after our day in Epcot, where the "future" is 1982. 

We loved staying late at the Magic Kingdom. In the cool of the night, we played after the crowds had gone. 

I think this will be the last time Emily will be interested in Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, so we savored the experience. 

Jane is Aurora. Emily is Leia. I love how she marches to the beat of her own drum. 

Our family is all about the rides. Disney World had a few we hadn't experienced before and many that we had. 

Rock n Roller Coaster was great fun. This was the day that the family stomach bug hit me and I was still having fun. (Thanks to a few Zofran I had leftover from chemo)

Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom is the finest executed roller coaster I have ever experienced. It combines theming and thrills in a way that I have never seen another ride do. Best ride ever. 

Seven Dwarves Mine Train is a lot of fun, even if it is a little kid ride. Incidentally, this picture was from our last day. It marked the one year anniversary of the start of my chemo. It was like a dream come true being here with my family one year from the day where I stood at the gates of hell and was escorted in by an IV drip. 

Our last night in Disney World, we ate at "Be Our Guest". What a fun recreation of the ballroom from Beauty and the Beast!

Unfortunately, this is the night that the family tummy bug struck Jane. Such a sad sight. 

She suffered through what should have been cool dinner. After this, she and I left while Chris and Emily stayed to play. 

Our last day was sad, but still magical. 

We met Gaston, who is hilarious. 

We rode some more of our favorites one last time.

And then we cried. Which is what you do when you leave Disney World.

So... those who know me know that I have a long history with Disney. I've lost track of how many times I've visited Disneyland. And I love it. So of course, it's hard not to compare the two, seeing as how this was my first trip to Disney World.

Here is how I see it:

Food: Point Disney World. Chris and I had a lovely date night in Epcot where we didn't ride one ride. Which is good because the rides at Epcot suck. (Except for Soarin, of course). Although I will say the food is still outrageously expensive. 

Peoplemover: Point Disney World. It was a taste of my childhood. You'll rue the day you got rid of this one, Disneyland. 

Fastpasses: Point Disney World. Peter Pan actually has fastpasses in DW. This alone was worth the trip. We never stood in line for more than 20 minutes for anything. Fastpasses in DL are still paper and can only be obtained one at a time. 

Traffic flow: Point Disney World. If you're stuck on the Tomorrowland side of DL during a parade, you're there for the duration. 

Ease of transportation: Point Disneyland. We stay on resort and nothing is more than a 10 minute walk from our room.

Density of Fun: Point Disneyland. In one day you can visit Disneyland, California Adventures and Downtown Disney. If you get sick of one thing, it's easy to make a quick switch. Most of the parks in Disney World had one or two decent attractions and were a 20 minute bus ride away from our hotel. We never even visited Disney Springs because momma don't get on a bus to go shopping at overpriced stores. 

Smell: Point Disneyland. Disney World smells like the weird sulfur water that PS you're also expected to drink. 

Cost: Point Disneyland. Everything from plane tickets to park tickets is cheaper. The hotels are slightly more expensive in DL on account of scarcity. 

Number of Awesome Rides: Point Disneyland. Surprisingly, DW wasn't able to pack any more awesome into its huge park that DL can pack into its compact space. Plus, the Matterhorn is a staple. Without it, the magic just isn't quite there. Also, the big drop at the beginning of Pirates followed by the refrain, "Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me!" and the clapping of the passengers... sorry you missed the boat DW. 

Childhood nostalgia: Point Disneyland. It's where the magic lives. Disney world felt like it was just built as a money making venture. Disneyland feels like it grew out of something more special. DW felt like a copy of DL. Like when your favorite restaurant opens a second location and things aren't quite the same. 

Ultimately, I think the winner is Disneyland in my book. But still, both are awesome in their own way and I love both. 

I am so grateful to have taken this vacation. I am happy I was healthy enough to go. It was a magical trip indeed. 

The Universe of Harry

We took the mother of all family vacations this last week. 9 days straight of nothing but theme parks. This family loves theme parks so while this vacation was intense, it was great fun. 

No, we do not normally take two vacations in a summer. But the last year has been a living hell and this is the Summer of George. We needed to bring some balance to our lives and we had a lot of misery to make up for. 

We started in Universal, which is better known as "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Plus a Bunch of Meager Efforts at Other Stuff". I'll hit the highlights.

As soon as we got there, we had to have butterbeer. Now, I make butterbeer at home and it is awesome. This was not awesome. It was cream soda with whipped cream on top. 

But on the flipside... Harry Potter World!!! It was so cool and so spot on. 

Look at this! It's Hogsmeade! We were there! And, I was selected for "The wand chooses the wizard" show. Mostly because I was wearing a Harry Potter shirt and it's obvious that I have cancer hair. But I will take it. I elbowed aside all those kids and got my wand experience at Olivander's. 

Hogwarts! Shut up!

Look! I'm eating Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream in front of Gringotts!

The Knight Bus! For real! It didn't move, but whatever.

And then we took a run at the wall between platforms 9 and 10 and found ourselves at platform 9 3/4.

                                            

                                            

where we boarded the one and only Hogwarts Express!!

It was amazing. The Harry Potter theming is spot on and Emily and I felt like we had finally gotten our Hogwarts letters. 

And then there was the rest of the park....

There were a few other rides of note at Universal.

Jurrassic Park was pretty cool.

And Rip Ride Rockit, which was my very first x-coaster, did not disappoint. Emily and I rode with zeal. And then she rode it again with Chris. 

Other than that, Universal was mainly those simulated motion type of rides that do nothing but make me vomit. It felt a bit lazy of Universal to do ride after ride after ride in front of movie screens. All in all, it was a fun 2 days and the Harry Potter experience was well worth riding "Minion Mayhem" with Jane. 

Next up: On to Disneyworld!

I Think I Can...cun

Last year we had a trip planned to Key West. It was going to be awesome. Then, a week before we were supposed to leave, I was diagnosed. As much as I hated to, we cancelled the trip. But this year we planned a Summer of George to make up for the lost fun.

We started last week in Cancun. My folks watched the kids for which we are grateful.

It was an educational voyage in which we learned many things:

Mexican candy sucks. I don't mean to start any international wars, but these red squishy things

and these blobs of dough

ain't got nothing on a good Snickers Bar or Reese's Cup.

We also learned that little Mexican towns love tourists. Especially the kind that bring American dollars. To them, all Americans are rich and I guess it's true that we are. We have sewer systems that can handle toilet paper, water we can drink straight from the tap, and almost every household has wifi. So I don't mind spending a few of my American dollars at shops like this. 

The Mayans were crazy violent people. Pictured here is an ancient Quidditch court where the team who got the most balls through the hoop won. And then were beheaded as a reward.  

Our tour guide told us all these souvenir stands at Chichen Itza were run by the mafia. Personally I think he was in league with the guys in the shop (pictured above) where we stopped on the way. I'm not sure if he was full of crap or not, but it was interesting for sure. 

Chichen Itza was huge and awesome. It is the only wonder of the world I have seen so far and it definitely deserves the title.

This is a cenote. Something I had no idea existed until recently. It's a sinkhole filled with water in the middle of the jungle. I jumped off a 15' platform into the cenote, but there is no record of it on account of Chris not being ready and me not wanting to wait for him in case I lost my nerve. It was cool.

Mexican chocolate is the best. I don't know why they don't use more in their candy. I fell in love with this chocolate while there. I can't get it in the States, so I took a stash back with me in my backpack.

Chris looks pretty boss swimming in the ocean. It looks like he is leaving civilization for good and striking out to find new horizons. 

I, on the other hand look like a very pale girl getting a very bad sunburn. And that is exactly what is happening. In Hawaii, I burned so bad that I invested in some rash guards for this trip. Now I need a rash guard for my legs. Sunscreen just doesn't cut it.

Zip lining is fun. It put a big smile on my face. But it didn't quit give me the rush I was looking for. I wanted it to be a little faster and a little more adrenaline inducing. I think the park we chose has a lot of mass appeal so they couldn't be too extreme. 

The amphibious vehicles were cool and kind of made me want a ATV. But not enough to spend that much money on a toy. 

It was hard to say goodbye to Cancun. It was amazing and surreal and lovely. But we have to get back to our jobs...

in order to fund Summer of George Part II: Disneyworld and Universal Studios. I can hardly wait. 

Perfect 10

So Emily is 10 now. It is amazing that she was born an entire decade ago. We are glad to have her in our family. 

Last week she became the first in our family to ever compete in a school sponsored sporting event. Go Emily!

Later that week, she brought TARDIS cookies to school. None of the other 4th graders knew or cared about Doctor Who, but Emily marches to the beat of her own drum. I like that. 

She continued to march to the beat of her own drum when she and Chris went to comic con. She said that the folks there were her type of people. Where else can you wear your Hermione costume and pose with a Stan Lee impersonator in front of dudes modeling wearable robot sculptures? She loved it and she expressed a desire to follow the comic con circuit around. For now I think she needs to focus on school.

At dinner, Emily decided she was grown up enough to order off the adult menu. I agree. 

Last night I stayed up late to make overnight cinnamon rolls for a birthday surprise. I parked them in the fridge and got up an hour before I thought anyone else would so I could take them out and get the yeast woken up. But it was cold. And Chris said he would get up later and put them in the oven, so I left a sticky note: "350° for 25-30 minutes". And then I went back to bed. Emily woke up first and spotted the rolls. She thought the note was for her, so she baked her own birthday breakfast. She is a pretty responsible young lady. 

Emily got a load of presents. Jane made her some toilet paper roll binoculars. You might want to be careful with those, Emily. I strongly suspect Jane fished those rolls out of the bathroom trash can. Pink eye is curable. But love lasts forever. 

Emily got a big girl bike. With gears! That's how you know you've arrived. 

She also got a label maker. It has already proved helpful. 

10 is a lot of candles. Soon we will have to start with the number shaped candles. 

Happy Birthday Emily! We love you and we are happy to have you in our family!