Disney Vacation - Day 2

Saturday, May 9th

7:40 AM - The phone just rang with a reminder call from Wyndham that my "welcome" appointment, complete with continental breakfast, is at 8:00 AM. Sleepily, I told them we would have to reschedule that appointment. We made it for tomorrow at 11:15 AM.

10:00 AM - We are all up, dressed, and fed. Madison's friend, Camille, is here in Orlando as well and we are to meet up with her today. Unfortunately, she isn't answering her phone.

11:00 AM - We have reached Camille and we are to pick her up at the JW Marriott. Tom has taken out his trusty iPhone for directions, choosing to ignore the directions Madison wrote down per the JW Marriott concierge's instructions. Once again I have opted to sit in the back.

12:00 PM - We have finally found the JW Marriott after much confusion and following of the green dot on the iPhone. Jyoti has kept her cool in the front seat. I haven't done as well from the back seat. Turns out we should have followed Madison's instructions. The women and children are now eating the lunch we packed to take into Disney.

1:00 PM - We have entered Disney's Animal Kingdom. The theme this Spring is "Celebrate Today". Little do they know how hard we have tried.

5:30 PM - We have conquered Disney's Animal Kingdom and we are on the way home. Disney's Animal Kingdom only stays open until 5:00 PM every day so that the animals can be fed, watered, hosed down, and put to bed. The park is one of my favorites because it's shady. I also like the educational experience. The Conservation area has live animal surgeries you can watch and all sorts of educational information. I love that there are animals throughout the park everywhere you roam from ride to ride.

The girls wanted to get Fast Passes for the Kali Rapid River ride. Fast Passes are passes that you can get to come back to a ride and pretty much just glide right through to the front of the line. You can only hold one Fast Pass at a time. As we walked to the Rapid River ride, a young man approached us and offered up four Fast Passes to the Expedition Everest roller coaster ride, and Tom, Madison, and Camille took off to take advantage. Jyoti and I took the younger girls and waited the 20 minutes to get on the Kali River. Then Jyoti ducked out.

I took the girls on the ride. Darcy has gotten smart. She brought her bathing suit and so the two girls changed before we got into line. I did not. Nor did I bring a change of underwear. You would think I'd learn. We were in a raft of adults and teens. I was sharing a side with a man about my age. He and his family had never been on the ride before so I gave them a heads up on putting their sneaker-clad feet up on the rail. Otherwise...you walk around the park in wet sneakers. Ugh.

I love this ride because at the end right before you make the huge drop the raft spins and whoever is sliding down backward is exactly who is getting wet. It is so much fun to watch people who don't have a clue what is coming. Unfortunately, you can end up being that person. I was. Twice!

We rode the ride again with the entire group (minus Jyoti) directly after getting soaked. The second time we were on a raft with all young girls. When we spun around we just kept spinning until Tom and I were backwards once again. I was drenched from the top of my head to my knees. My feet, however, were dry. It took about an hour to dry out in the 90-degree temperature.

We spent quite a bit of time in Dinoland where the girls rode another roller coaster, and we zipped through the Dinosaur ride, another of my favs. Our legs are hurting now and we are headed back to the resort for some swimming.

8:30 PM - We are now entering Disney's Magic Kingdom for the evening. It stays open until 11:00 tonight so we are hoping for a cooler and less crowded experience. We did some swimming down the lazy river at the resort, had Indian leftovers and pizza poolside, and have showered. Now we are ready for a magical evening.

The girls are interested in Splash Mountain, as well as the smaller rides like the teacups, the merry-go-round, and the race track.

12:00 AM - We are heading back to our car. The park is closing and we are pooped. We have done quite a few rides and we have stood underneath the fireworks show. Tom, Sarina, Madison, and Camille rode Splash Mountain over and over as the attendant kept letting them get back on as soon they got off. When they met up with us, Tom was sopping wet. 

Jyoti and I just know we are going to sleep well tonight. We've had tons of exercise, been in the heat and sun, and are satisfied we have done are children proud. We're definitely going to sleep well.

Day 2 has ended and already Day 3 has begun.