Yeap, this year my family decided to spend Christmas at Disney World. We hadn't had a family vacation since '99 and since I'll be moving away come summer, my parents wanted to do something. Now, instead of going day by day of what we did, I'll just go by categories.
Traveling:
- On the day of leaving, we were meant to leave at 12 noon but, of course, we left a little late. Everyone was ready to go but my mom which is always the case. The trip to the airport in Raleigh was about two hours but I slept most of the way. The airport was crowded and the flight was delayed but all went well for that.
- To get to the different parks, we took three different modes of transportation: boat, bus, and monorail. Can't say I liked the buses too much simply because they took too long to get to the bus stops and a few of them didn't know what they were doing or where things where. The boat went straight to the Magic Kingdom from the Wilderness Lodge were we stayed.
- Getting back home was better than leaving...though we had to be ready by quarter to seven this morning. Things went smoothly (and I got the window seat this time). Much better than driving too and from. It would have taken about 12 hours.
- The Magic Kingdom was the first place we went too. I have to say that that park is the most Disney out of them all...if that makes sense. We got to see a few parades and my mom and I went shopping on main street. We rode a few things and my brother and I even got to see the "inner workings" of Space Mountain. On the 24th, he and I went back there alone to enjoy more rides. We got in line for Space Mountain again only to have it shut down right as we got to the front. The lights came on inside and we got to see the tracks above (because, for those who don't know, Space Mountain's an inside coaster that's in the dark) which was rare. As we waited, the people running the ride tried singing carols for entertainment. It struck midnight as we waited and we all called out Merry Christmas. Eventally we got to ride it. It was prety cool.
- MGM was pretty good. Gotta love Tower of Terror (or Terror of Tower as my dad called it). I rode it three times, two of them twice in a row. It was surprising the first time but so so fun. I also happened to like the fact that they have a place there called Beverly Sunset. I got a picture of it. <3
- Epcot wasn't too bad but probably not the most fun park to go to. It wasn't as bad as everyone had said but I probably wouldn't go to it more than once or anything. Mission Space and Test Track weren't half bad (We got on Mission Space twice) but I like the coaster better.
- The Animal Kingdom was alright but we didn't do much. We went for the rides (Everest was a freakin' blast!) but didn't see any of the saffaris or anything. We didn't have time to go back to it to see any of them.
- There seriously isn't much of a variety of things to eat at Disney World. All of the menus are small and there's not much to choose from. I got tired of pizza. But the one thing I did like was the breakfast cresant sandwich thing...yum.
- Sit down meals were rather disappointing. Each time my dad complained that the food wasn't to his liking. It really bugged me. Granted, I didn't like the food all too much but I didn't sit there at the table and complain. He even refused to eat one night because he didn't like what was offered.
- Oh god...the people. Now this is what I complained about. Some of the people weren't so bad but I've never met such idiotic people before. Let's see...some of the worst went like this:
- One guy walked past my mom and hit her in the face with his bag and didn't appologize or even excused himself. My dad fussed him out.
- Someone, while we waited in a crowded line, pushed into me and nearly made me and the woman I hit fall over. Didn't appologize.
- While waiting to get into one park, some guy cut right between my dad and I (when there was barely room between us) then stepped hard of my foot when deciding he couldn't be patient. Didn't appologize.
- When at Epcot looking at the water fountains, some guys walked past and splashed me and my brother (wasn't a lot but still). They walked off laughing while I glared. Should have cussed at them...but my parents were right there.
- When trying to take a picture of my dad by a car, several people kept walking up to take pictures first. If I didn't care about my dad's camera, I would have thrown it at them. My dad even said one thing to a woman but she just glared and went on with her picture.
- In general, people would cut infront of us, stop infront of us while we walked, and the like. A few times, I simply stopped infront of the people and forced them to walk around me instead. Kids were also loud and roudy, running into people and infront of us with no care in the world.
- Some people were nice, though, stopping when we were taking pictures or holding doors or whatever. They were few and far between.
- I had three small headaches while we were there, two on the mornings we left to go there and come back. None of them were that bad...but still. Sneezing also got to me but I have no clue what caused it.
- My feet. I found that I simply can't stand on my feet for more than a couple hours without pain. As the days went on, it got worse. A few times, I was on the verge of tears and could barely walk. One night I had to stand on the bus ride back and thought I'd pass out or something from the pain. My parents now want me to go see a doctor about it. I will but it won't be right now.
- The only thing I bought myself was a black army sorta style hat that had Pirate Princess on it. I rather like it and hope to wear it often.
- For others, I bought Tom's parents Goofy mugs, his brother a Barbosa actionfigure, and for Tom a siloette of myself. I hope they'll like them. <3
- My mom bought me a few things. First was a little tiara she found with clear crystals and a black skull and crossbones on the front. I also got from her two new links for a bracelet she gave me a few years ago and a charm bracles that has five of the princesses and a Mickey Mouse head. (Sleeping Beauty's my fav one, by the way.)