I just want to see if multiple events are handled properly.

We’re heading to Orlando for a family vacation

##Friday, 2/15 – Travel

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Today was a travel day. We woke up and finished packing and made the trip to the Logan Express in Framingham. Take my word for it, if you have to go to Logan Airport, this is the only way.

In short order, we made it through security at Logan and proceeded to our gate in terminal E. Terminal E is the international terminal, so I have no idea why we went there for a domestic flight.

Our first stop was Memphis for a 1 hour layover. This was just enough time for us to hit the bathroom and make it to the gate for our connecting flight, but on our way we got the intoxicating smell of Tennessee BBQ in our noses (more on that later).

When we landed in Orlando, we met up with Norma. Thankfully, Danae had planned things out well enough so that our flights landed at almost the same time, and in the same terminal.

From there, we found our way to the Vistana Resort run by Sheraton. This is just a beautiful place, and I’m glad Norma was able to get it for us.

##Saturday, 2/16 – Magic Kingdom

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We woke up and had breakfast at the hotel room and then headed to the Magic Kingdom. One thing I have to say is that Disney has really figured out how to handle crowds. Parking was a breeze, as was getting out of the park.

Our first stop inside the park was the Pirates of the Carribean. I love this ride, and I wish that more parks could make rides like this.

Next, we continued around the park and found the Thunder Mountain roller coaster. They don’t make roller coasters like this one anymore… no loops or corkscrews, just quick falls and a lot of thrills.

We had lunch close by there at one of the many generic eateries, and then watched the 100 year birthday of Walt Disney parade.

Once the parade was over, we found our way over towards the Haunted Mansion, but it was closed, so we continued though the park until we hit It’s a Small World. This ride, although quite dated, still has some nostalgic value.

Then we all headed to the Crystal Palace restaurant where we had a nice meal and met up with Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger. The kids got their autograph books signed, and Madison got a Birthday card signed by Pooh and friends.

After dinner we headed over to the Peter Pan ride. Take my word for it… don’t waste your time. This was easily the most dissappointing ride of the whole vacation so far.

After that dissapointment, we found our way to the Haunted Mansion, which had reopened. I don’t know why, but it seemed a whole lot shorter than the one in California. Oh well.

The Disney electrical parade met us as we left the Mansion. This is without a doubt the most spectacular parade I’ve ever seen. I think that Macy’s should take notice and upgrade the Thanksgiving day parade a bit.

##Sunday, 2/17 – Visit the Family

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This was our first two scheduled rest days. We took a drive out to visit my Uncle Frank and Aunt Nancy. What a couple! We had so much fun visiting them!

Nancy put a fine spread out for us to eat for lunch, and then we headed out to the pool where they live. The kids were like fish! They spent the next 3 1/2 hours swimming in the pool. My [[Charles Francis Carney]] would have been proud 🙂

Danae, Nancy, and Norma headed over to the beach and took a short walk. I brought the kids back to the apartment to spend some time with my Uncle Frank.

When they finally got back from the beach, we spent a little more time chatting, and I called my Mother. The sale of her house was final today, so thankfully there won’t be any more stress because of that.

Nancy, again, out did herself and we had a wonderful dinner, and a birthday cake for Madison… I think she’s going to get spoiled!!!

##Monday, 2/18 – Disney/MGM Studios

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We had grand plans of getting out of the resort early this morning, but that proved to be impossible. I guess we all needed a good night’s sleep.

Once we finally managed to get out, we made our way to the Disney/MGM Studio park. So far, I’d have to say that this is our favorite. Of course the Magic Kindom is very special, but we’ve been there so many times. This park is new.

First stop… Star Tours. Although we’ve been on this ride many, many times, it’s still special. The kids and Norma, who had never been on the ride before loved it. One of the things that all disney parks seem to do better than anyone is make the time spent standing in line part of the ride and interesting in its own right. Why don’t other parks do the same??

I was hoping that the Indiana Jones ride was here too, but unfortunately, that’s only in the Disneyland park on the West coast. Instead, they have the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular show. More on that later.

Next stop was the *Honey, I Shrunk the Kids* playground. The kids had a bit of fun while the grownups got a break.

Then, we took a tour of the MGM backlot and had a demostration on how movies and special effects are spliced together into a final product. It was quite facinating.

Once we left there, we had to find our way to the Brown Derby restaurant for lunch. This is a recreation of the original Brown Derby in Hollywood where the stars of yesteryear used to hang out. The walls were filled with caricatures of the old stars. It was fun trying to figure out who was who.

Once we left lunch, we made our way to an exhibit that showed us more about the man Walt Disney. He came a long way… originally having nothing to his naming, building up the whole Disney empire as a fulfillment of his dream.

Then we ended up at the Who Wants to be a Millionaire exhibit and got to participate as audience members in the show. Danae really enjoyed this, since it’s her favorite show.

After this, the kids and I went on the Tower of Terror ride. This is the best of the new rides. I highly recommend that if you get to this park, you don’t miss this.

Finally, we watched the Fantasmic show, and so far this is the highlight of our vacation. We had never seen it before, and it is a spectacular as it is reported to be.

##Tuesday, 2/19 – Merciful Rest, A Knight’s Tale

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Tuesday was spent relaxing by the pool and recovering from the last few days of driving and crowds. Danae, the kids, and I headed over to the pool while Norma got some much needed rest as her cold was finally starting to catch up with her.

While at the pool, Danae and I partook of our usual vacation relaxation technique: Pina Coladas! Take a look at the picture above, and you can already see that she’s more relaxed!

##Wednesday, 2/20 – Animal Kingdom / Epcot

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This was definitely one of the better days of the vacation so far. We went to the Animal Kingdom for the morning and early afternoon, and over to Epcot for the evening.

The Animal Kingdom is a spectacular place. I don’t know how Disney achieved some of the things that they did!

Our first stop was the African Safari. Somehow, Disney actually recreated the African savana on 500 acres of land and stocked it with a variety of interesting animals. The most interesting part of the whole thing is that the animals aren’t in cages, or in any kind of padocks, but rather can roam freely around the environment. The safari happens in an open air bus, and there’s no fences or other constraints on the movements of the animals… it was very much like it must be in a real safari in Africa. Look at the pictures above. Those animals were about that close to our bus!

After our safari, we found the Lion King theatre and watched the show there. This show was like a mini version of the broadway musical. Absolutely fantastic. The costumes and choreography were just wonderful.

Upon leaving the Animal Kingdom, we headed back to our room for a break and some rest before heading to Epcot.

Epcot is something that I was wholy unprepared for. When people say that Walt Disney had a dream, you have no idea how big his dream was until you’ve been to Epcot. I could easily spend a week there and not even come close to seeing everything.

Our first stop inside Epcot was the Spaceship Earth exhibit. This is like a tour of the history of human communication from the early days of cave paintings up to now. From there we went to the Innoventions exhibit where the kids had some fun trying out some new game controls for their playstation. This might help them get some excercise while they’re stuck in front of the TV!

Our next stop was the main attraction of Epcot: the international area. Here, there are 12 countries represented, each with their own buildings, exhibits, dining, and entertainment. All of the employees in these areas come from the countries that the area represents. Disney actually recruits from all over the world for Epcot to make the experience in each country area as real as possible.

On this first night we spent time in Mexico, Canada, The United Kingdom, France, and Morocco. While in France, Madison had her picture taken standing next to a statue that turned out to be a street performer that would adopt various poses to look like a statue. He was awesome!

##Thursday, 2/21 – Magic Kingdom / Epcot

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Our last day of vacation was spent hitting the areas of both the Magic Kingdom and Epcot that we had missed on our previous days there.

For the Magic Kingdom, this meant Tomorrowland, Toon Town, Tom Sawyer’s Island and Frontier Land. Our first stop was Space Mountain, easily one of the most entertaining roller coasters ever designed. You don’t need loops to make things interesting!

In Toon Town we took tours of Mickey’s and Minnie’s house and then picked up the train to the other side of the park and got off in Frontier Land. We grabbed fast passes for Splash Mountain and headed for Tom Sawyer’s Island to kill some time waiting for our turn to get wet!

Tom Sawyer’s Island is one of the few quiet pleasures in the Magic Kingdom. There’s no rides or shows to see, just areas to explore and enjoy.