Epcot

 So! After we left Hollywood Studios we headed for Epcot!

Nate was really impressed by the Spaceship Earth.  

And he took this photo, which really impressed us!

Our main reason for going was to take Nate to Japan!

We watched a lumberjack show in Canada.  And stopped to enjoy a few other things on the way. 

When my mom and Jim were on their own they didn't use the memory maker even once!  But we did! LOTS!

Finally we made it to Japan.  We went in the shop, Dave got a Sapporo Beer,  and I found chop sticks for Nate.   They did a really great job replicating everything. 

We were sitting in Japan waiting for the drumming when I look over two benches and see my mom and Jim!  

I really wanted to see the Taiko Drumming.  It was one of my favorite things about Japan Day at Misawa AB when we lived there. 

After we walked around the rest of the countries we were exhausted!  It had been a very long day.  We decided to ride the test track and then head home.  It was really awesome!  I would like to do that again someday.

We went back to our resort.  Had dinner. Crashed.

The next morning Dave, Jim, and Nate got up early to get breakfast (before the 500 Brazilian dancing teenage girls), and caught the shuttle back to Hollywood Studios.  They wanted to go on the Star Tours again.  They did. Four times in less than an hour, and they just about scrambled their brains. 

Mom and I slept in, had breakfast then sat by the pool.  

The boys returned around lunchtime so we had lunch and then headed to Magic Kingdom to go to the parade and fireworks.  More on that later!  

Moment of the Week

The birthday boy.  

We did a low key dinner since we had just gone to Florida.  

I can't believe he is seven already!

Breakfast and Hollywood Studios

Our third day started super early.  We had to get up and catch a shuttle to another Disney resort for our character breakfast reservations.  

Minnie

Donald

 and Goofy stopped by to take pictures and 'chat' which is funny because none of them talk.

I got my photo with MINNIE!

And Dave cheesed it up with Goofy!

 After our breakfast Nate clogged the toilet at the fancy hotel so we quickly headed for the boat shuttle to Hollywood Studios.

We got there just before opening. 

It worked out to be perfect timing!

There was NO LINE at Star Tours.

All of us LOVED it!  We rode it later and boy the line was long.  Worth it.... but catching no wait is such a treat!

There is a new Star Wars cartoon on Netflix that the boys have been watching lately, so Nate already loved Star Wars before the ride.  

He took it seriously.  Since we have been home we have started watching the movies.

We walked around and enjoyed a bunch of things.

Dave got to be an extra in the Indiana Jones show.  I think it was something he will be talking about for awhile.

We did wait a looooong time to meet Buzz and Woody.  I have more photos to share of this some other time. 

We had lunch at the ABC commissary. Then Mom and Jim waited to watch the Extreme Stunt Show, while Nate, Dave and I headed to Epcot....

More Later. 

Magic Kingdom

Our second day in Florida was a long one.  We got up early to be at the Magic Kingdom when it opened.    It was fun to watch Mickey and Minnie and all the other characters ride up on the train.

After we went in we headed towards Splash Mountain. There was no line so we rode and Nate looks like he hated it, but he claims it was his favorite.

Thankfully we weren't completely soaked, and after the breeze on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.....

 we were pretty much dry for our meeting with Woody and Jessie.  I must admit that even as a grown ass woman, meeting the characters was pretty exciting.  Especially those of movies I have watched 497,421 times. 

We rode some more tame rides for poor Nate who isn't a fan of those fast thrilling rides.  He loved astro orbiter, dumbo, the shooting arcade, the hall of presidents, the tea cups, the country bear jamboree, the enchanted tiki room, carousal of progress, it's a small world, swiss family treehouse and he loved tomorrowland speedway.

While we had lunch it POURED, after waiting it out for a bit we had to put on the ponchos and went out to find an indoor ride.

We went on the Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and we all LOVED it!

The rain cleared by the time we were done and we had a lot more fun.  

Dave and Jim rode Space Mountain....

Nate and I rode the people mover

Which stopped moving people and we had to take stairs to get off the track.

We were going to stick around for the parade and fireworks but it was super chilly and we were pooped, so we  called it a day.

 That was it for day two.  More later. 

Animal Kingdom

If you follow me on Instagram, or check out the little feed I have at the top over there ----->

You have seen lots of pictures of our trip.  Here is more.  Joy for you.

We arrived in Orlando at 11:59 p.m. which means after catching the Magic Express to our resort and checking in we didn't get to bed until 1:30 am on Sunday. WOOF!  Luckily we were able to sleep in a bit and relax for a few hours while we waited for Mom and Jim to arrive.    We got breakfast and spent the morning at the pool.  It was delightful.  We had a late lunch, and by that time they had arrived.  

After lunch we jumped on the shuttle to Animal Kingdom.  

We really just wanted to go on the Kilimanjaro Safari. So we headed straight there taking in the animals and the drumming and dancing along the way. 

And the Tree of Life really is amazing! 

We went on the safari and I think all of us loved it.

Getting up close to some of these beasts was really neat.

It may not be much different, but it feels much better than a zoo. 

The lions looked much happier than the annoyed  pacers at the zoo.

We walked around a bit.  Met some famous people....

 Rode the Expedition Everest, which was pretty thrilling as you can see from the look on my face. 

The Tree of Life is pretty awesome at night!

 It was a great park to spend our half day.  

And the excitement of the day was all over Nate's face the next morning.

More later. 

Moment of the Week

There is no way to blog about out trip to Disney yet... I need to decompress and rest up and then I'll attempt it.