Wednesday February 27, 2013
When we were surprised with Matt’s mom’s visit on Monday, it didn’t even take us 30 minutes after them knocking on the hull for us to start planning out our time with them here. Â Since we were unfortunately no longer going in the water during their visit, we needed to think of other plans to occupy our time together. Â As soon as Matt’s mom asked, “What do you guys want to do this week?”, we simultaneously responded, “Disney World!!”. Â We were half joking at first, but then pretty serious. Â See, we already had two free day passes that were given to us from our friend Chris, and without ever getting to that side of Florida our whole stay here, it was looking like they were going to go unused. Â We even almost gave them to our new friends on Tango, as they were going to be heading there anyway, but didn’t see them again before they left the boat yard and never got to pass on the passes. Â So there they were, just burning a hole in our wallet, and I couldn’t imagine leaving the country without someone getting use out of them. Â Now that there was a car at our disposal again, as well as willing participants, why not let those people be us?
Getting picked up bright and early at 7 am, we began the two hour drive from St. Augustine to Kissimee. At least three of us were getting super psyched in the car, acting like we were little kids and this was our first trip to Disney World. I even hijacked Matt’s phone to find a clip of ‘It’s a Small World’ to listen to during the ride. I can’t lie though, I really like Shrek’s ‘Duloc’s’ version better. “Please keep off the grass. Shine your shoes, wipe your….face.â€.
Our goal that morning had been to get there just after opening, giving us the full day to try and fit in as many rides and attractions as possible. We did get to the parking lot around that time, but oh my god does it take forever to actually get in the park. First we had to take a shuttle to the ticket counter, and then take the monorail to get into the park. Losing that extra hour, we thought we were going to have to start nudging people out of our way just to get to the rides we wanted to go on. Luckily, even though the crowds looked large, the Magic Kingdom is a big place and after sprinting to Space Mountain, we found out the lines weren’t very long at all. Only 15 minutes! There was so much walking through corridors that we barely even had time to stand still before getting on the roller coaster.
 We ended up seeing and doing so much, I think we squeezed the whole park into one day. You may have to play a little dirty to do it, but it can be done. If you also shove adults and trip little kids, you too can experience all of these during one visit:
- Space Mountain
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- Stitch’s Great Escape
- The Barnstormer
- It’s a Small World
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Swiss Family Treehouse
- The Hall of Presidents
- Haunted Mansion
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Astro Orbiter
- Peter Pan’s FlightÂ
- Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
- (Splash Mountain was closed!)
I’m just joking, no kids were purposely tripped, we just got really lucky with very short lines. We did have a panic when we first got there though, of ‘How are we going to fit this whole park into one day, especially since we arrived later than planned?!’. But by the time the clock struck six, even after finding out the park was staying open an extra hour that night, we were exhausted and ready to go home. No fireworks for us this time, just some milkshakes on the way home and the promise of a bed. It was an absolutely perfect day, and I couldn’t be more thankful to Chris for giving us the passes, and to Crystal and Jack for going there with us. Thank you, all three of you, very much!
