Sharon Rowe

Disneyworld Orlando

April 25th, 2007

Well, another age has passed since I last blogged and I thought it prudent to post a little about my trip to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida a few weeks back.  I was there with my best friend, Carole and her husband, Mark and their daughter (our goddaughter) Alice Rose. 

They flew out a few days before me and soon enough I was in the heat of Florida!  We stayed in a lovely 7 bedroom villa about 15 minutes drive from Disneyworld itself, nice to have lots of space and a pool to cool down in!  Unfortunately due to an ice-skating accident back in December, Carole wasn’t very mobile - but thanks to her motorised scooter was able to get around the parks quite well.

The first day was spent at Animal Kingdom.  The first ride of the day was the Kali River Rapids, all the guides advise you do it early or late - as you get soaked!  Unfortunately, Alice got a tad upset by the soaking, so I was left to go on it a second time all alone - which meant Mark could take pictures of me.   We then went off to ride the fearsome new rollercoaster “Expedition Everest” - check out this picture of me and Mark on there having a whale of a time.  In fact, thanks to the FastPass system, we went on it twice back to back   We watched the traditional 3pm parade and then, excitingly, met Minnie Mouse as we were leaving for home.

Friday we had a bit of a low-key day, as we were planning on going out later to watch the evening parade and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom.  We executed said plan and the floats were fabulous especially Cinderella and Prince Charming!  After the parade we ended up with a muffin and a latte for dinner (I know, not the diet of a runner!) and waited to see the fireworks, which didn’t disappoint.

Saturday saw us visiting one of the waterparks at Disney, called Blizzard Beach.  It had all kinds of fun things to do, Alice really enjoyed herself as she is a bit of a water-baby.  The park is meant to look like a ski resort, it’s quite bizarre really - but great fun!  We then had a lazy afternoon at home, followed by a Chinese take-away (with the most strange pink, orange and green prawn crackers ever!).

On Sunday we headed off to MGM Studios.  This turned out to be my favourite of all the parks.  We got to ride the Aerosmith Rock and Roller Coaster (cue embarrassing photo!), we saw the Beauty and the Beast stage show from the front row, thanks to Carole’s disabled scooter, Alice met Belle, Snow White and Mary Poppins and the girls all met Minnie again, this time in her traditional outfit…but the highlight of the day was meeting Sully and Mike from Monsters Inc., I was absolutely thrilled to bits - as you may be able to tell from the cheesy grin! 

Monday saw us off to Magic Kingdom, where we went on a few rides including the AstroOrbiter and Mark and Alice took time out to meet Buzz Lightyear…to infinity and beyond   We then braved the hot sunshine for the 3pm parade, including seeing Cinders again.

Ticking along to Tuesday and we headed to Epcot, which was Alice’s favourite part of Disney.  I have to admit that I found Epcot pretty dated and it looked a bit tatty.  However, I did have a chance to go on 2 really cool rides, one was “Soarin’” and the other was “Mission Space” where I decided perhaps I could be an astronaut…

Wednesday was my last day before heading home.  The week absolutely flew by in a blur of rides and Tinkerbell and Minnie Mouse   Breakfast was spent in the company of Winnie the Pooh and friends, here I am grinning meeting Piglet!  The only thing I really really wanted to do was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, the ride was a bit of a let-down but the show outside beforehand was great!  We were very lucky just to be there at the right time and I think you’ll agree that the chap who played Cap’n Jack was a great lookie-likie!  Carole and I had to have our photo taken outside Cinderella’s castle whilst wearing our ears…

And that, my friends, is that.  A week in Disney was probably enough for me and I am not sure I would ever return - not least because I think I missed David so much whilst he was at home and I was away.  However, I had a wonderful time and have some great memories - and fab photos to treasure.  I did say when I came back that I wouldn’t go on holiday without David again but here I am planning a trip to Dubai with three midwife friends in November….

Entry Filed under: Holidays, Friends and Family