dISney.

WELL I finally got to go to Disney. The magical land where dreams come true and sugar is expensive and shaped like cartoons and children seem to cry as much as they laugh.

And it was wonderful. (A Tommy quote, "It was the best.... it was smaller than I remembered.")

Poor Tommy got lost using the good ol GPS to pick me up from the hotel where our conference was. We drove a little ways until all the signs turned into mousey-ears and we got to pass under WELCOME to DISNEY WORLD. We checked in at our hotel, the Dolphin, and were asked if it was our honeymoon. We jumped onto a packed bus and were dropped off at the Magical Kingdom.


I was just so excited. I'm sure I was smiling a bunch because of the "Hello, Honeymooners!!" we got from the cast members on the little street quite a few times. And then! We see! The castle!! (*angels singing!!*) So exciting.


We decided to circle around and hit up things that were special to us. Tommy had us go up the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse and shoot with the old west guns. I got us on the Peter Pan ride and took us to watch Mike from Monsters Inc.


Then we went to Hollywood Studios just because we wanted to go on the Rockin' Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror. I had great expectations for this Tower of Terror thing I've been hearing about. You see, I’ve been riding legit roller coasters since I was tall enough. And, thanks to Mrs. Bev and the reward trips for the puppet team every summer (shout out! woot woot) I have a pretty fair depth of experience on all rides crazy. So ‘falling’ types of rides for me began at Carowinds with the Drop Tower: Scream Zone (once known as "Drop Zone: Stunt Tower"), and Acrophobia at Six Flags and then finally Power Tower (featuring both the Space Shot and the Turbo Drop) at Cedar Point. And at Cedar Point, even the Top Thrill Dragster (at 420 feet going 120 mph from take-off, it’s the the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world) and Wicked Twister (at 215 feet high and going 72 miles per hour, it is the highest/fastest inverted roller coaster in the world) both give you the falling sensation... So bouncing while on the Tower of Terror only convinced me that the REAL ride was just about to happen and we hadn't experienced everything yet. The doors fly open to a man in a ‘bell hop’ uniform telling me to unbuckle and get out. Psh. But now I can say I’ve been on that ride and that’s really what matters!


And then we went on the Rockin’ Roller Coaster. I really do think Tommy was most excited about this one. We both loved the guitar décor inside and out, and the tributes and music kept us entertained during the long-ish wait. (Side-note: ALMOST all of the rides had no line. We got spoiled walking straight onto rides. So to actually wait for any amount of time seemed long-ish.) The ride was really fun- lots of dips and twists that you couldn’t anticipate because you were completely in the dark indoors, and blacklit signs flying at your face. Thoroughly enjoyed that one. We then pull into the little hall where you wait for the people in front of you to get off. And waited and waited. Which wouldn’t have been bad except for the several super cool preteen cousins who all decided to be obnoxious as possible. And then. My dream. Came true.


Pause for background story:: As afore mentioned, I’m a roller coaster man. Wo-man. I’ve only closed my eyes once on a ride since my first one and only Lindsey Oliver knows which ride that was. I wasn’t scared, I was just worried my MIND would get scared and make me wet myself. Legit concern! ANYway. I have never gotten stuck on a ride. But, I’ve always wanted to get stuck on a ride. One time, we watched a whole car of riders hang on the up-ramp for an hour before the workers got them off. I SO wanted to be on there. It’s like..... a mix of being almost famous, needing to be rescued, having a little adventure, and being close to danger- it’s like the perfect storm of a good story. ::Resume present story


SO on the Rockin’ Roller Coaster, the announcer lady told us we had malfunctioned and we would have to be rescued!! YAY!!! So the little men came and unlocked our safety bars and we had to climb onto the rarely-used-by-visitors walkway. We got to see the whole coaster all twisting around itself in this room we never thought would be so small- it was so impressive! We had to stay on this green pathway so that we wouldn’t… break something? Get lost? And got to walk under, around, and thru the coaster's track. And we saw a random desk for some poor soul who has to sit in the dark and almost get run over everyday....? And now we know all their secrets!!


There are many little stories to tell but they all blend together- in my mind we seamlessly sang along with the muppets and road thru Munchkin Land and explored a haunted mansion and met Mike Wazowski and boated thru a pirate cave. It was just exciting being there- where everything is Disney and everything is FUN and jolly and sing-song-y.


To end the day, we road back to our hotel on a low-riding boat into the sunset. AHhhhh…magic.... We changed into nicer clothes and had an absolutely wonderful meal at…some restaurant? And fell asleep FAST. Ex-haust-ed.


It was a great birthday present. Great Great Great.