Disney Summary
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It’s been a long time since I’ve updated because of the busy holidays. Damon and I got back from Florida on Saturday morning after a very long drive. We tried catching up on our sleep yet were still pretty groggy this morning before leaving for work.
Let’s see, Christmas. This Christmas was a bit different from years past. On the 24th we went to my older sister Jessica’s house and had dinner and opened gifts and played a little bit of Rock Band and Guitar Hero. During the Thanksgiving holiday we drew names for presents. There are 8 adults and 4 kids so the 8 adults drew 1 adult name and 1 kid name thus giving the adult one gift and kid two gifts. We set a cap too ($70 adult gift, $30 kid gift). I drew Katie (kid) and Grace (adult)’s names and gave Grace some cash (for school and her car) and Katie tons of art supplies. Damon showed her how to use them and gave her lessons in shading and perspective. Jessica drew my name and I got open water goggles for my tri coming up in May, running socks, some foot stuff, and a Subway gift card (yummie!).
Christmas Day was spent at Damon’s mom’s house where we had MORE to eat and more gifts to open. His mom bought me some really comfy PJs I could just wear every day all day. His dad gave me $40 which was perfect for our trip to Disney 
We left SA at noon on the 27th and drove all the way through to Orlando. We ended up stopping for a short cat nap at a rest stop in Tallahassee but ended up sleeping for nearly 3 hours. It was okay though - we didn’t have any plans for that arrival Sunday so we took our time driving into town and wasted no time doing Disney stuff. After grabbing a quick bite for lunch we headed to the All Star Resort to take some pictures. We knew the All Star wouldn’t have much in the way of Christmas decor but we hadn’t shot any of the resort before so we took some shots.
After the All Star we headed to the Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge (DAK) and got shots of some of the animals and all the gorgeous Christmas decorations. It’s such a gorgeous resort! The hotel has a viewing area in the back where they have zebra, giraffe, impala, etc and the lucky rich resort guests can look out their hotel window and see the animals. We got shots of the Christmas tree inside as well as some architecture shots.
We checked in to our hotel (very close to Disney property) and went to dinner then went to my friend Martha’s apartment to pick up our Disney tickets (yay!). It was great seeing her and catching up again. We ended up talking for a very long time then while heading out realized that we couldn’t make it to the Polynesian resort to see the fireworks so we’d just head out to Disney Boardwalk instead. I’ll tell ya what, it’s a good thing that he and I know the parks/area so well because it sure makes planning a breeze. Anyone crazy enough to do Disney during Christmas/New Years has got to be 1) insane and 2) know what they’re doing.
I’ll summarize the rest of the trip:
Dec 29 - Shot at the Grand Floridian (the Grand), Polynesian (the Poly), and Contemporary. Shot fireworks on Boardwalk that night
All Star Resort: Movies:
Giant Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridian:
Christmas tree at Animal Kingdom Lodge:
Dec 30 - Epcot, Magic Kingdom (MK), Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios (Studios), and Epcot one last time.
What we did: Take tons of pictures and ride on Spaceship Earth at Epcot (the giant ball). Went to Studios (formerly MGM Studios) to take pix of the Osborne lights, and Epcot to watch the Christmas fireworks.
Osborne Lights at Disney Hollywood Studios:
Dec 31 - Hung out with my good friend Michelle and her boyfriend (who I FINALLY MET), Ron. We ate at Margaritaville at Universal’s City Walk, walked around, then went and played GH and Rock Band at Ron’s apartment. We spent the evening starting at 9pm at the Poly to watch the New Year’s fireworks. The Poly is across the lake from MK so the view is spectacular and you get to see a whole panoramic firework show that is easily one of the best firework shows anywhere in the world. Disney knows their fireworks!
Jan 1 - Spent all morning and half the afternoon at Animal Kingdom (AK). We went on the Kilamenjaro Safari where you see all sorts of African wildlife. Damon and I had a very very hard time taking pictures because the ride is so bumpy. We got fast passes for other rides but never used them. We ended up giving them away at the exit gate to two guys who were entering the park. We did both of the nature walks and got some shots of the wildlife. I wish I could say, “i got an awesome shot of this and that” but i can’t because I have yet to look through my pictures. Our evening was spent at MK watching Wishes (the nightly firework show) riding Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. They have changed that Haunted Mansion up and it’s freakin awesome! We loved it before but it’s nice to see some change in an old ride. It’s a bit more like the movie now.
Magic Kingdom Shots:
New Years Fireworks:
Dead center of the photo in the lower ground (you see little tiny fireworks at ground level) is the castle. These fireworks went all the way around the castle for a great panoramic view for the night. Farrrr left hand side is the Grand Floridian Resort and farrrr right hand side is the Contemporary Resort. You can see a boat on the lake on the left hand side.
By the time the evening of the 1st rolled around we were E.X.H.A.U.S.T.E.D. There were thousands upon thousands of people in the park and it was very tiring with kids running everywhere and people coming out thru the walls. We ended up leaving earlier than planned. I’m sure if we were Disney novices we would have stayed that extra day to go on some rides and stuff but honestly, the Disney spark had left both of us and we were ready to drive home. It’s a bit different when you’re at a park you used to work at and would get in free and never have to wait in lines to milling with the thousands and waiting forever for rides.
So that was our trip in a nutshell. I’ll post some pics when I go through them. I’m gonna start looking right now!! 
One Response to “Disney Summary”
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Laura Says:
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:30 amYou’re so lucky!!! I love your photos!! I should get into photography too. What kind of camera do you have?
