Since I last checked in, a lot has happened. Epcot finished strong, as test track and Soarin were both awesome rides. We missed the obligatory thunderstorm too, and headed home in the early evening for a swim and dinner. This was where I decided to use my groupon to Cici's, which may well be the worst restaurant I've ever had the misfortune to visit. Blah. At least it was cheap.
Saturday everyone offered to hang with the girls so I could take Gabi to the Florida mall, which I found very disappointing, although she went a bit nuts in a necklace store (for a rather long time in my opinion). We did have lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen, which was nice. We came home for a swim, then went for a group dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, which was tasty, but next time I think I might go medium.
Sunday was a day I won't soon forget. The girls wanted to swim again, so Gabi and I were freed up to go visit Universal Islands of Adventure and the World of Harry Potter. Now, my injuries this summer certainly haven't helped me in the waistline department, but I've rarely been as upset about it as I was at this crappy theme park. I tried the test seat at the Hulk, and while it was certainly snug, I felt like I fit. Not so at the front of the line, as I got kicked out of the ride. Embarrassing, to say the least.
We then walked thru the park to get to Harry Potter, where to my dismay there was absolutely no question of getting my butt into the seat of the dueling dragon Rollercoaster. Gabi toured the shops and displays with glee, but my day was wrecked and my mood sour, putting it mildly. Ok, I was seriously pisses off, to tell the truth.
So - the world of Harry Potter. Last chance at redemption, the test seat was comfortable, let's go. Gabi even agreed to go with me, and touring Hogwarts while in line was really cool. So we get to the front of the line (30 mins), and an attendant asks me to try another test seat. Guess what happened?
Crushed, completely utterly crushed, I decided that I didn't want to spend another minute and certainly not a single other dollar in this brutal place, so we left. We stopped in at guest relations on the way out, and thankfully they were reasonable enough to refund our admissions and the fastpass I bought so Gabi wouldn't have to wait so long while I rode all the thrill rides I'd been dying to try. So much for best laid plans, eh?
So just over two hours after setting out, we were back home for a swim, and then dinner out at the Golden Corral, where we befriended a lovely young waitress from Kazakhstan, and then each of us proceeded to leave her some very nice tips, to the point that I think we'd get some unexpectedly nice service were we to ever go back there.
Monday we headed back to the Magic Kingdom, which was a great way to end our trip. Maya and I found Tiana, her favorite princess, and even better, no lineup! The girls both waited for Rapunzel while I crossed the park to get fastpasses for Splash Mountain. I was completely soaked when I got back to Rapunzel-I think Monday was the hottest day we saw. Maya and I used fastpasses to great effect, doing everything we hadn't the previous Monday (except Space Mountain - Maya was cool with the lizard in her bed, but not so much with the dark - and birds, of course). We hit Buzz Lightyear, Stitch's escape, the laugh floor, the speedway, did a run on splash mountain and a couple of turns on Thunder Mountain, then hooked up with Mommy and Chloe. I took Chloe on Aladdin's magic carpets while the others did the tiki bird show, then Gabi and Maya did splash mountain, which was Mommy's only thrill ride the entire trip.
I took Chloe to it's a small world for her last ride before leaving while the big girls shopped, then we sadly left Disney to go for a last family dinner at Chili's, which was excellent. I was deeply upset to find out about Jack Layton, however. His final letter was very reflective of my impressions of him, however.
Terry Jen and the boys had a very early flight, so we didn't see them this morning, but we did get to pack up and close up the house with mom and dad.
In all, it was a super fantastic family vacation, good to spend time with and hang out with everyone, the house was good, except for the crappy mattresses and lack of main floor air conditioning. We had mostly good food, we mostly got along, most of all we did lots of wonderful things as a family. Can't ever thank my mom and dad enough - as usual. They're awesome.
By the time this posts, I'll be home. I can't wait to be in my own bed. Getting turbulence-I'm gonna put the phone away so I won't risk yakking on it.
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