“Come along and sing a song and join the jamboree!” – My Disney Vacation

“M-I-C
See ya real soon!
K-E-Y
Why? Because we like you!
M-O-U-S-E”

So it was, friends of the blog, that we had to bid adieu to Disney World yesterday and head back north to the chilly wasteland that is New England winter. I shall not speak for Laura as to her feelings about the trip but can justly speak for myself. It was so much fun! And now that I’ve had a day to recover, and at least a day I needed, here’s part one of my final post about Disney World.

I won’t bore you with a play-by-play of our week long adventures at Disney World. Instead, here is a highlights list of the trip. No negatives, I only want to remember the awesomeness. Enjoy!

Best Ride That I’d Been On Before: Splash Mountain (Magic Kingdom)
Anecdote: Laura and I got a huge scare and then a huge surprise with this ride on Sunday. As went ventured into Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom, we saw that Splash Mountain was bone dry! Both of us put up a brave face but were secretly devastated. Luckily, it started to run shortly thereafter and we got on in the back row. Thinking to ourselves that people in the back row don’t get wet at all on the ride, we were happy…until our boat stopped just to the right of the big drop and when the next boat went over we got hit with a wall – and I mean a wall – of water essentially soaking us. 🙂

Best Ride I’d Never Been On: Mission: Space (Epcot). Rode twice in about 20 or 30 minutes. Take that!

Best Ride I’d Chickened Out of Last Time But Bravely Went On This Time: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
Anecdote: I’m a thrill ride person, big time. The only ride I’ve ever chickened out of while already in line in my life was Tower of Terror back in 2002. It was an irrational mental block for me with this ride. Well, I went on it – nervous as hell – and it was a blast. I think I was airborne more than I was seated.

Best Show: Muppets 3D Show (Disney’s Hollywood Studios). I could have watched that pre-show for 20 more minutes.

Best Attraction: Maharajah Jungle Trek (Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park)

Best Meal – Counter Service: Hawaiian Barbecue Sandwich at Earl of Sandwich (Downtown Disney)
Anecdote: OMG, this sandwich was effing amazing. Maybe it was because we had been traveling all day and it had been a long time since we ate but I devoured this thing and could have had another one. So very, very good.

Best Meal – Sit Down: Grilled Tenderloin Medallions at the BoatWright’s Dining Hall Restaurant (Port Orleans Riverside Resort). This is the resort we stayed at. Despite feeling like camp, it was a beautiful and great place. And the food at their restaurant was heavenly, even with my 7&7 that was basically whiskey on the rocks. 🙂

Best Alcoholic Drink: All of them.
Anecdote: I was finally old enough to drink at Disney World and I did. I had an amazing Grand Marnier slushie at the French Pavillion at Epcot, a marvelous strawberry concoction at the Riverside resort bar, that aforementioned 7&7, a dark beer from the Germany pavillion at Epcot that made me feel like I was back in that country, and the best glass of red wine I’ve ever had in my entire life at the Chefs de France Restaurant at Epcot. Expensive but they were all worth it.

Best Out-Of-Park Excursion: Walking through the Grand Floridian Resort near Magic Kingdom. Holy crap, I have to make enough money at some point in my life to be able to stay at this place. Wow!

Cutest Kid: The little girl clapping along with Mickey Mouse when all the characters were doing their opening ceremony for Magic Kingdom.

Best Thing About Being In Florida in January: Except for the last day at the parks in our trip, it was sunny and in the 80’s everyday. And I came back without a sunburn! It’s a miracle.

Surprisingly Fun: The Living Seas ride with Nemo and Friends at Epcot and the accompanying large aquarium…with dolphins!

No Lines: Just in general, the wait times were very short.

Coolest Purchase: Toss up between the rice krispie treat mickey mouse ears, the stuffed elephant from Animal Kingdom (is name is Guy), and my Tower of Terror T-shirt which you’ll just have to see sometime.

Most Ambitious Day: Epcot on Monday. We did the all the rides in the morning and then the entire World Showcase in the afternoon, leaving us pretty much beat for the rest of the trip.

Best Reason To Stay At A Disney Resort: Every reason I can think of. From the Magical Express taking care of our luggage from and to the airport to the frequent buses to the parks to the amazing service they offer in which any purchase you make at the park can be sent directly to your resort so you don’t have to carry it. All these services were free, as in built into the price of the room, but it was totally worth it.

Most Memorable Moment: Eee Gads, there are too many. I think though it might be meeting Mickey Mouse. I had never done that before. I’ll post the picture if it comes out.

Most Awkward Moment: Being fondled by a chipmunk. At the same character dinner where we met Mickey and Pluto, Chip and Dale were there. We got to meet everyone and it was a lot of fun. But then Chip came by. He started by just sweetly kissing my hand. He then kissed the entire length of my arm and then kissed me on the cheek. It was cute until I thought about who might be in that suit. 🙂 That and Pluto tried to eat our dessert.

Best Thing About Being On Vacation: Wearing T-shirts and shorts, not caring about what your hair is doing or how ridiculous you might look. Sleeping when tired, eating when hungry and doing whatever it is that you feel like doing. Oh, that and we were in EFFING DISNEY WORLD!

Finally, last but not least…

Best Park: All of them. I can’t choose between Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. We did them in that order and I loved each one. It’s amazing how each park has its own feel, atmosphere and pace. I don’t think anything could match the specialness of the Magic Kingdom. There’s something about seeing Cinderella’s Palace that just sends a childlike wonder through you.

There’s much more to tell but I feel like I’ve already rambled enough. All in all, it was a truly wonderful vacation. I wish that all of our friends could have been down there with us. 🙂

Oh, and if you’ve read this far, I feel I must give you the dirt that I’m sure you were all waiting to hear. Allow me to ask the question on all of your minds.

How did you and Laura get along? Were there any fights?

Oh, you naughty people! Truth is, it was terrible and we fought the entire time. I was so glad to get away fr…

Wait, Laura reads this doesn’t she.

Uh…

Yeah we got along just, just fine. Yeah, yeah…

No, seriously we did really well. We had our moments, of course, but all in all it was a lot of fun to share the magic and the memories with someone who was just as excited, if not more so, as I was to be there. Without her research and knowledge about pretty much everything we did, I think I would have been lost or at least less aware of what I was doing.

I should have pictures Monday. I’ll post the good ones and that will be officially the last post about Disney World. It really was a wonderful trip. Even though it was expensive, I’m glad we went and I’d love to go back some day. Nice thing about Disney World is that you know it’ll be there. 🙂

Thanks for reading!

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Back from Disney World!

It’s a great big beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day.
It’s a great big beautiful tomorrow
And tomorrow is just a dream away!

Hiya folks! Well, I’m back from a whirlwind, fast-paced vacation to the most magical place on earth Walt Disney World! To say I had a blast would be paying a huge disservice to the just butt loads of fun the last 6 and a half days have been. Too tired to give a good account of our trip now, I’ll do that later this weekend. But in short, rode a lot of rides, spent a lot of money, had precisely 5 alcoholic drinks (all good), did a lot of walking, got very tired and had just tons of fun.

Be back soon with more details!

Oh, and by the way, this was my 4th trip to Disney World and the first time I got to meet Mickey Mouse! I also got fondled by a chipmunk but more on that later. 🙂

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Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

One. More. Day! The Florida sun is calling, our plane is waiting, our reservations are made. Tomorrow, Laura and I will be on our way to the wonderful world of Disney. So excited!

Too bad there is so much that has to get done today. As I always do, I’ve left too much for the last day. I still have to do laundry, pack, clean, get money and supplies. Eek!

Gee, I wonder if I’ll be distracted today at work? 🙂

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That will DEFINITELY get me to watch

Patti LuPone to be on 30 Rock

I mean, I would watch this woman read the newspaper. Very exciting!

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“How many times do I have to tell you, John? I always have a plan.”

Hey all,

Lost is back and so is Regarding Benry! If you’re a fan of the show, please check it out, leave a comment or two.

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“The Daily Show”: Not Going Away

Anyone watch the live Daily Show last night? If you didn’t, try to catch it tonight or go to the website and watch it. In the first segment, Jon Stewart did the unthinkable.

We’ve grown to love how TDS can nail politicians’ rhetoric. My favorite bit they do is to show current footage of a speech or something that someone said and then show clips from the past in which the person says the exact opposite. It was a real hit with Bush.

Well, last night Stewart did it again…with President Obama! Using Obama’s inauguration speech, he inter-cut some particularly cliche moments with clips of Bush saying almost the exact same thing. The dude had been President for like 12 hours and already TDS was doing this to him. Incredible.

Not saying that I didn’t like it though. I actually thought it was equally hilarious and terrifying. And kudos to The Daily Show for daring to compare Obama to Bush in such a way on Inauguration Day. They did the same kind of thing on Monday night, something that seems to be rather a controversial move on some message boards. In the first segment that night, Stewart cracked a joke about Martin Luther King III’s weight. There were a few seconds of silence in the studio and then Stewart broke character and started laughing in a way that suggested he couldn’t believe he had just said what he said on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I too couldn’t believe they went that far but again, it was hilarious and I was most definitely laughing.

Bottom line: I think The Daily Show is gonna be just fine.

Oooh, and I read on some message board that Stewart expects to stay with the show when his contract runs out next year! Hope that’s true.

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I can do a push-up!

OMG! I can do a push-up!

That might seem silly to some of you or even ridiculously easy to some of you but you don’t understand. I have never, EVER been able to do proper push-ups. I never had the arm strength for them. And then I was working out yesterday and attempting to do what the mean lady on the TV was telling me to do and I did a push-up!

Just in case it was a fluke, tonight while watching Biggest Loser I did sets of 5 push-ups during the commercials! I can do a push-up! Granted, my nose ain’t touching the ground but still!

Woohoo! Officially the best thing to have happened today.

Oh wait…

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A Brand New Day

I’m so happy I feel like dancing! In less than three hours, Barack Obama will be sworn in as our 44th President!

This is an historic, memorable day for so many reasons. Years from now, we’ll be able to tell our children and grandchildren that we watched as the first African American President of the United States was sworn in. It’s a great day to be an American.

This day also marks the last time I will ever have to say the following: President George W. Bush. I, like so many, have been waiting for this moment for 8 years. I would never root for a President to fail but I can honestly say that I never believed in Bush. At first, I thought he was just an staunchly conservative idiot. Then, in the aftermath of 9/11, Bush proved he was more than a bumbling buffoon and that he was a dangerous figure obsessed with power and the wrongness of his own convictions. Without a doubt the worst, most damaging President of my lifetime, George W. Bush has been a constant source of anger and frustration for me for nearly a decade.

And today, all of that comes to an end. I’m not saying that, as President, Barack Obama won’t make mistakes or say things I disagree with. But he’s not Bush and I believe wholeheartedly that he could never be Bush.

So, while today is an historic occassion that means something a little different for each one of us, Barack Obama swearing in as President today means to me that we as a country have a chance to be what we’re supposed to be. And that is why I’ve been smiling all morning. 🙂

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Finding Shorts in January

or how I spent my Monday morning off.

Believe it or not, it is really difficult to find shorts in stores in the middle of January when there’s a freaking ton  of snow on the ground. Who would have thought? 🙂

I went to so many stores this morning, all through Cambridgeside, two Gaps, two Macy’s and finally found a pair of shorts that was one size too big on the 70% off rack at the Eddie Bauer outlet. I figured too big is better than too small and since they were only like 8 bucks I got them.

Why did I spend this snowy Monday shopping for shorts? Well, I don’t know if you’ve heard but I, along with friend of the blog Laura, am going to Disney World this weekend (gah!) and that just so happens to be in Florida. The forecast so far for our trip? Sunny and in the mid-70s – although now it looks like it could rain on Sunday.

But still, 70 degree weather added with Florida’s humidity means shorts. For any of you who saw me over this past summer, you’ll know that I wore shorts only twice. Hence, the shorts shopping trip this morning. At least it was successful in the end. I got some fresh air and got out of the house for the first time all weekend. Sad I know but until this morning I felt like crap. Now I just feel vaguely under the weather.

Woohoo! 5 more days!!!!

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The Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl

No, I swear. Seriously, I’m not lying. The Arizona Cardinals, the same team that basically stopped playing on a snowy Sunday at Gillette, just beat the Philadelphia Eagles 32-25. Amazing. I like to root for the underdog and no one gave this team much of a chance through the playoffs. Good for them. John McCain must be thrilled.

BTW, Arizona QB Kurt Warner –  kind of a hottie.

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