The Hardin Family

Days 7, 8, 9, 10, & 11 – DISNEY WORLD!

July 11th, 2008

It is day 12 of our vacation and we are back in Pensacola from a wonderful time at Disney World!  Here is a summary of a play by play of the past few days:

Day 7 – July 6:  We left Clearwater around 6:45am and on the way out I had to stop at Dunkin Donuts.  This is my all time favorite place for doughnuts and there isn’t one near us in Texas.  We arrived at the resort Shades of Green around 8:45am.  Shades of Green is a military resort on the Disney property.  We were able to stay there because of Mike…he was in the Air Force and currently works for the Department of Defense on Eglin Air Force Base.  The room wasn’t ready so we met up with The Carnley family and proceeded to the Magic Kingdom.  As we would talk to Madison about this trip, we would tell her we were going to meet Mickey and Minnie.  So, on this first day, we went and toured Mickey and Minnie’s houses and then, we got to meet them!  Madison was soooo excited (and so was Mommy!)!!  To see Madison’s face light up when she met them was the best feeling.  As we said goodbye to them, Madison said, “Mommy, time to go home?”  She knew she was here to meet them and as soon as we did, I guess she thought it was all over!  If she only knew…      We watched a 3-D show starring Mickey (similar to the movie Fantasia) and Madison was SCARED.  She screamed and cried throughout the whole thing and would not wear the 3-D glasses.  She kept telling me to turn it off.  It didn’t end soon enough for her.  The day was also spent in Tomorrowland where we rode the Toy Story ride and Pooh Bear ride, ate, walking around looking at different things, shopping, taking a few picutres and watching part of the parade.  Madison loved riding the monorail and the bus from the monorail to the resort!  I think that was her favorite part!  We checked into the resort, took showers, and proceeded to Red Lobster for an awful meal.  They were not busy whatsoever, but the service was as slow as molasses.  Then, when the food was brought out, Ryan and Mike’s meals were wrong, so the waiter took them back.  The manager came to talk to us and said that somehow their food was given to someone else or something like that.  So, he said they were remaking them and that we would not be charged for either meal.  After being there forever, the bill was brought to us.  We paid for our part with cash, but Mike and Jennifer were paying with credit card.  The credit card machine was not working for some reason, so they didn’t have to pay at all!!  Completely free meal for them!  How lucky!  Then it was on to Downtown Disney were there is more shops!  Our first day was a great one and we were really excited to be here with the Carnley Family.

Hotel:  $377     Tickets:  $723

Watching your daughter meet her idols:  Priceless

Day 8 – July 7:  There were turkeys outside our room!  We had a first floor room where the patio doors lead out to the golf course right there, and there were actual turkeys roaming!  It was really neat.  Ok, but more importantly we began the day at Hollywood Studios.  Ryan and Mike rode the Tower of Terror.  You will never catch me on something like that…it’s a ride that drops you 10 stories!  We saw Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live with the Mickey characters, Tigger and Pooh, Little Einsteins, and Handy Manny.  If you don’t understand that, watch the Disney channel first thing in the mornings.    We then watched a 3-D show starring the Muppets.  I was a little worried, based on yesterday’s circumstance, but this time I didn’t even put the glasses on her, so she was fine!  Yeah!  Hollywood also has a big playground called Honey I Shrunk the Kids, based on the movie.  So, everything is gigantic.  Madison was afraid of that and wouldn’t play on it.  It started to rain so we had to take cover at the near by eatery.  We also watched Beauty and the Beast show.  Both girls liked that, although Madison….yes, you guessed it….was afraid of the beast.  Otherwise they both watched very intently.  We also watched another parade.  Madison was asleep for this one but Lauren and Gavin enjoyed it!  Then, we all went to Epcot.  Not much for little kids, but boy, were Madison and Gavin excited when they got to meet Minnie (again), Mickey (again), Pluto, Chip and Dale, and Goofy!  We also rode a Finding Nemo ride, and after exiting the ride there were fish tanks to look at and a fake shark to take a picture in.  I stuck my head in it and Ryan took a picture.  See below.    It was getting late and there wasn’t really anything else for us to do there with kids, so we got in line for the ride in the big ball thing (I’m not sure what that big silver ball thing is called).  All 3 kids were VERY restless, so we got out of line and went back to the resort.  It was time to call it a night.  Little did we know that once we got back to the room, both of our girls would scream and cry and not want to go to sleep.  It was 11:30 before they were asleep. 

Day 9 – July 8:  I guess I should have mentioned earlier that for the first 2 days we were here, we put sun tan lotion on both girls – of course.  Well, by this day, Madison was broken out.  We have had this problem with lotions with her…no matter which one we use (and we’ve tried them all) she breaks out.  She was also recently “diagnosed” with excema so between that and the lotion she was broken out all over.  So, this day we decided to take it a little easier and drove around in the morning, running errands and sight seeing.  Then about 1:00 or so we met the Carnley’s at Animal Kingdom where we looked at different animals, ate (this is a pattern..ha!), and got rained on, again.  It rained a good bit here, so we didn’t ride anything here.  We did get to meet Pooh Bear, Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger.  Again, Madison’s face just lit up.  I always say Madison, but Lauren liked them too but doesn’t know who they are.  This night we went to an Italian place with the thick stuffed pizza.  It wasn’t very good.  Gavin said he wanted to hold Lauren so see picture below.    Then Ryan, the girls, and I went to Downtown Disney again where they have a huge Disney store.  Day over.  One more to go.

Day 10 – July 9:  Our last day at Disney World was spent at Magic Kingdom.  This was the best day of all, except that Madison was severely broken out.  We were at the park 30 minutes after it opened and spent the morning riding Dumbo, Peter Pan, It’s A Small World, and the Carousal.  Madison actually liked all of these rides, but least liked Peter Pan.  We also met Claribelle Cow and Daisy!  Then for lunch we ate at the Crystal Palace, which was dining with Pooh Bear, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore.  The girls loved this!  In fact, when they had to go to another table, Lauren got upset!  Madison was looking pretty bad by this day, and I cried.  I felt so bad for her.  We decided to call it a day since we rode just about everything there was to ride, so after eating we went to get in line to meet all the princesses.  It was an hour and a half wait, so we decided not to wait.  Madison was okay with this, since we bought her a doll collection with all of the princesses in it.  Bribery.  Sometimes it works.    The girls fell asleep in the stroller on the way back to the room.  Once in the room we all took a short nap.  That night we went to the world’s largest and unique McDonalds.  They serve more than just the typical menu that included some mexican items, pizza, sandwiches, and wraps.  It was a neat experience.  We went back to the resort where Madison and I walked all around it.  We had such a wonderful time at Disney World with the Carnley’s.  Ryan has such a wonderful friend in Mike, and I’m glad we are good friends with them.  Thank you to them for allowing us to vacation with them and enjoy their company!

Day 11 - July 10:  We left the resort about 10:30 and Madison was not ready to leave.  She kept asking to go see Disney World.  But, when we told her we were going to see Grandma and Pop Hardin she was fine!  The drive back to Pensacola was pretty uneventful.  We stopped in Gainsville, Florida to see the University of Florida, where Ryan graduated from.  We ate lunch at a hole in the wall Italian place..to keep our newly started tradition.  See pic below.    After lunch we thought the girls would take a nap.  Boy, what were we thinking??  Madison didn’t sleep one wink.  Lauren did some, but was cranky the rest of the time.  We got to Pensacola about 8:00 or so.  It didn’t take much to get them to sleep.  We will be spending Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday here in Pensacola and either heading back home late Monday or Tuesday.  We will see Ryan’s grandparents and spend time with his family while we are here.  One last post about our vacation to follow then. 

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