Disney Was Hit Hard....

By the Simms and the Jensens. We wore it out, or I should say it wore US out! So you want the play-by-play? Of course you do or you wouldn't be reading right now so I will gladly oblige! Let me start out by saying I caught Rane's horrible, horrible cold on Sunday and I was in bed before 7 p.m. that evening. We were to leave in the middle of the night on Monday so I was saying lots of prayers in hopes that I would have a miraculous recovery by then. Spencer's parents arrived before dinner on Monday night because they graciously volunteered to keep the kids at our house while we were gone. (Thank you again Gary and Gayla!) I still felt horrible but there was absolutely no way a sickness was going to stand between me and a trip to Disney so we got up at 1:50 a.m. as scheduled and hit the road. We hadn't even made it out of the lovely state of Georgia before Spencer woke me up saying, "Katie sit up. I'm getting pulled over." What a start to the vaca...a nice, fat speeding ticket. Whatever. That wasn't going to stop us either...it just slowed us down a bit. Anyway, Spencer and I arrived at our hotel, the Dolphin, which is between Hollywood Studios and Epcot Tuesday morning and we were in Hollywood Studios 15 minutes after it opened. Ahhhhh. I rallied and rode the Tower of Terror 12 times that day and rode the Rockin' Roller Coaster at least 7 or 8. The park was practically empty (first time we've ever witnessed that) so we were giddy, to say the least! We even made friends with a cast member on the Tower of Terror and she gave us a reride (we didn't stand in any line and took the service elevator with a cast member back up to the loading area and got back on! It was awesome! We thought it couldn't get any better than that and it did when she offered us an elevator ALL BY OURSELVES! Spencer and I were on cloud 9! We were SO excited and just plain baffled that it was happening! I know those of you that are reading this right now and don't "do Disney" are thinking how crazy we are and aren't following my excitement but let me just compare it for you...it's like personally shaking hands with the Pope...it just doesn't happen!

So anyway, Spencer and I needed a break that afternoon so we hit the pool for some relaxation followed by a nap in the room. We went to the Boardwalk for dinner and then headed back to Hollywood Studios for some more Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster action. We slept very well that night!

My parents arrived on Wednesday morning and after a quick trip to the hotel we went back to Hollywood Studios and my parents were equally amazed at the sparse crowds. Oh did I mention it was hot? Ha! Oh man, it was H-O-T HOT! Record heat and humidity....more like Orlando in July, not October. We sweated through our clothes down to our socks every single day and usually before 10 a.m. After sweating it on a few rides we headed over to Epcot and toured around the Food and Wine Festival that they have each year throughout October. We have never been this time of year so we were all excited to see what it was all about. They had booths set up from countries around the world (not just the Epcot countries) and you could sample tapas, wine, beer and desserts. Of course you had to pay a pretty penny, it is Disney after all. So we tried a few places and then went to England for drinks before dinner at France. It was a fantastic evening!

Thursday we went to Animal Kingdom. Sweated until we could sweat no more there and then went back to the hotel to recover before going to Downtown Disney and eating at House of Blues. We went back to Hollywood Studios and watched Fantasmic, a night show complete with water, fire, fireworks, all the characters and lots of fun! I highly recommend it!

Friday we had reservations at Primetime Cafe at Hollywood Studios so yes, we rounded out Spencer and I's rides on the Tower of Terror at a cool 20. Yup, we rode it 20 times. We love it, what can I say? Okay so let me tell you about our time at Primetime. It is a 50s-era restaurant that serves up dishes your mom would make back then (fried chicken and meatloaf) while you sit in your mom's kitchen. The wait staff yells at you to keep your elbows off the table, use your manners, don't ask for anything, etc. It's all part of it and it is SO funny! So my Dad must just wear a sign that says, "Pick on me" because our waiter, Mike, just rode him like crazy! Dad asked for a Diet Coke and water to drink and Mike didn't bring the water so when Dad asked for it he got smart and said he couldn't have it. Five minutes later a root beer, fruit punch, Coke, Sprite and water got slammed down on the table in front of him and Mike threw a bunch of straws at him. At this point I was in tears because I was laughing so hard! We ended up with 17 drinks at once on our table! Spencer's chocolate milkshake was forgotten as well so we ended up with 4 full milkshakes as well (no we didn't pay for any extras)! Dad shared his turkey sandwich with me and Mike saw it on my plate so what does he do? He takes that half-eaten sandwich, loads it up with whip cream and sprinkles and puts it back in front of Dad and tells him to eat it! (Mom always said to clean your plate, remember?) I realize that none of you are probably laughing right now but I tell you, I haven't laughed that hard in years and years and I mainly wanted to record all of it in writing on the blog for my Dad and for the future '09 blog book! Well after that hilarious lunch we rode a few more rides, went back to the hotel to rest and ate a wonderful dinner at Cat Cora's restaurant on Disney's Boardwalk called Kouzinna. It was a Mediterranean restaurant and it was sooooo good! We all loved it and had a great time, as usual!

Saturday was spent at Epcot and then we went to Downtown Disney that evening to eat at my all-time favorite restaurant, Fulton's Crab House. Man it was good.

Even though it was hotter than you know what every waking second we were there, we didn't care at all because we had so, so so much fun. Spencer and I are beyond tired and I know my parents are as well but we are already planning our trip for next year when we take Ella Ann! Can't wait! Thanks again, Mom and Dad for an amazing vacation and to Gary and Gayla for staying at our house and taking such good care of the kids!

I took a bunch of pictures so click HERE to view them. I posted several below so my parents could see a few.

On the way dooooown riding the Tower of Terror...alone!
Sampling foods from Chile at Epcot.

Drinks at England......

and before dinner at France.


Dessert one evening at Primetime Cafe.

Dad trying to get a word in edgewise with Mike over the drinks!

Mom had already polished off her tea when Mike dropped two more teas in front of her, said, "Here you go, Camel," and gave her a map of Hollywood Studios with all the bathrooms circled!

The second picture Mike took. The first one he cut out Dad and said it was the better pic!

Dad and his dessert sandwich!

Before dinner at Fulton's.


The restaurant is the boat.


Fulton's.