Homeward Bound: Visiting the Magic Kingdom

Last week, I had the awesome opportunity to head to my old stomping grounds - back to Florida to spend some time with Mom, my brother Jim, and sister-in-law Leigh.*  Along the way, I also got to visit with other family and friends and even run a 5K!

On Friday, Jim picked Mom and I up on the early side of the day,** and we headed further inward to Orlando to visit the Magic Kingdom, part of Walt Disney World.  We were happy to be joined by Uncle Jim, Aunt Kim, and our cousin Emma, enjoying her final day of spring break.***  Jim and Leigh are season pass holders, and they did an excellent job coordinating everyone, getting Fast Passes for the coolest rides, and serving as tour guide. 

Our entire group that day.

From left, yours truly, Mom, Jim, Emma, Uncle Jim, and Aunt Kim

Getting ready to undergo highway robbery.

Those tickets prices are no joke!

We took a few pictures at the train station up front while we waited to find the rest of our group.  We happened to hit the station right as the singers and dancers were gearing up for a performance; hopefully, this will explain all of the folks in petticoats twirling around behind us.

Getting ready to start our day!

With the tribe officially united, we immediately commenced the most important part of a Disney visit – eating!

Mom, Emma, and I enjoy our Mickey ice cream bars.

We also hit the rides, starting with our first Fast Pass location, at Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Did you know the actual Thunder Mountain is in Sedona?  

The gang gets ready to ride.

After enjoying Thunder Mountain,**** we hit up the nearby Country Bear Jamboree.  Yes, it’s old and yes, it’s more than a little hokey, but we dig it.

Our own band of hairy misfits – the Jim’s!

We trekked across the park a few times during the course of the day, logging 9 miles of walking in the process.*****  We hit up favorites like the Jungle Cruise, the Haunted Mansion, the Carousel, and the teacups:

Not sure what’s going on with these two,

but brothers and sisters are never too old to annoy each other.

Let’s spin!

The forecast called for rain, but thankfully, it held off most of the day, storming briefly for an hour or so in the afternoon.  We made the best of it and busted out our ponchos, heading for some of the indoor activities like the Carousel of Progress and the Enchanted Tiki Room. 

Getting ready to don our ponchos.

“At the tiki tiki tiki tiki room!”

We also ate a bit more:

Emma and I worked together to chow a path through this place.

Once the rain abated just a bit, we headed to ride Dumbo, stashing our things with Mom and Aunt Kim, who passed the time taking selfies.

Of course, the minute we sat down and started to fly around, it started to rain again, so we were a bit wet by the end of the ride.  Mom celebrated by taking this outstanding picture:

That’s us, directly behind the light pole.

You can kind of see our hands above it.

Eventually, around dinnertime, we decided we needed to escape the park itself for a bit and partake in some adult beverages (well, those of us who were of age.  So, everyone but Emma.  Sorry, cuz).  We hopped the Monorail to the Grand Floridian Resort, where we enjoyed some margaritas/brews and hot food while not being screeched at by small people.  Ah, relaxation.

Emma exploring the beach at the Grand Floridian

After we were refreshed (body, mind, and soul), we headed back to the Kingdom on the Monorail and into Tomorrowland, where we beelined straight for…another Monorail.  I think this one’s officially called the Tomorrowland Transportation Authority (or some other such nonsense); the line’s normally short, and it’s really a fun way to relax while seeing the sights.  You even ride inside Space Mountain!

Here we go!

At this point, we still had 30 minutes to kill until the evening light show started, so we wandered into the line for the Astro Orbiter.  The Orbiter corrals start right next to the TTA, and the line was short, so we figured why not – we’d give it a chance.  I have to take a moment and point out that amongst all six of us, five of us still live in the central Florida area, and since the other one of us (me!) grew up there, we’ve all visited Disney quite a number of times.  As it turns out, until this point, none of us had ever ridden the Orbiter, but it quickly shot to the top of our Disney “must-do” lists for the future.

Since we had six people, the crew member at the beginning of the line split us into four cars – two cars with two of us and two cars with one person each.  Emma and Jim claimed the single rider cars, so Uncle Jim and Aunt Kim hopped in a third car together, and Mom and I were in a fourth.

There goes Emma!

Jim, grabbing a selfie, as Mom and I get settled

As the ride started, we enjoyed dipping down and flying up, and at one point in time, I happened to look up at the car in front of us – piloted by Jim – to see him taking selfies.  Since we were below him, elevation-wise, I quickly figured out that these selfies would include us.  Hence, this face:

I am having THE BEST TIME EVER.

Be sure to click on this picture and zoom in on my face.

I PROMISE you won’t be disappointed.

Jim continued to take selfies and eventually took a quick peek at me, in the lower corner of his phone…

“Wait, what’s going on back there?”

...which eventually resulted in this, the best picture of our trip:

The best picture in the history of all the world.

Suffice it to say that the Orbiter will be on our must-do lists from this point on.

After we calmed ourselves down from the Orbiter, we headed over to the castle to watch the light show and accompanying fireworks, a delightful end to our day in the park!

Ooh, pretty!

Later!

Amy

* And my nephdog Pavlov.  Can’t forget Pavvy.

** Leigh had to stay at home, as she was feeling crappy.  Bummer!

*** Of her senior year of high school!  Holy crap, we’re old!

**** Until this trip, my favorite ride in the entire park.

***** For reals.  I had my Sunnto GPS watch on for the day.