Happiest Day 3

Day 1. Day 2. 

Day three we hit up Epcot. At this point, we knew the shuttle system to and from the park as well as how to get around Disney World. With only three days left, we knew that it was GO time.

We took this later in the day, but it's just so magical and iconic

Morning picture... we look good.

Flowers EVERYWHERE!

We weren't entirely sure on what to expect from Epcot. There were only two rides, but we had fun. We went on this ride about energy with Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy. I'm not sorry to admit that I got in a forty minute nap on that ride. Gave me lots of energy for the rest of the day.

Chelsea, myself, and Linds went on Mission: Space. We selected the "easier" version. It wasn't too bad. Chelsea and I went back for the more difficult version. I didn't like it. The G-Force gave me motion sickness. I didn't throw up but I did have a bad headache for a long while. I'm really glad I didn't decide to become an astronaut. I wouldn't have made it.

At Epcot I found appropriate mouse ears for myself. I didn't buy them, but I did take a picture.

After checking out one end, we headed in the World Showcase.

We stopped in Paris for some desserts.

Now, there was a long, LONG line around Norway. Why? To meet Anna and Elsa. We learned that the line was a 4 hour wait. We snapped this picture from the adjoining gift shop. Four hours was not worth it to meet Anna and Elsa.

We got some dinner in the Mexico area and then staked out perfect seats for the night-time show at Epcot. And it was epic.

Once that was over, we realized that we had a little time to kill so we decided to hit up Magic Kingdom for the first time. Using the awesome app, we learned that Splash Mountain had a 10 minute wait. We figured why not?

Round 1, we got wet. So we went back for round 2 and sat in the back:

With the park closing, we decided to go out and wait for our shuttle. However, we ran into a cast member who told us that the park was open until 1am. We decided to stay a little longer, miss our shuttle, and just split the cab fare.

All of the rides that were going to be long on Friday, we hit up on Wednesday evening.

We also got our picture taken with not a very busy park:

Snaps for Magic Kingdom!

Happiest: Day 2

If you want to read about day one, go here.

Weather predicted rain on Tuesday. Luckily, we had selected Hollywood Studios as our first stop at the DW. Many of Hollywood Studios attractions are inside so it was perfect.

We arrived at the ticket office and obtained our passes. As we took the fairy to Magic Kingdom, we tried to start selecting our fast passes. Two passes would not work. We continued to try to figure out the problem while traveling to Hollywood Studios, but had to approach the ticket booth there. Unfortunately, she couldn't help me either. We spent the first 30 minutes with Guest Services. However, they fixed the problem and gave us a fourth Fast Pass (you're only allowed three per day, per park). 

Finally, we were in and off.

And Hollywood Studios lived up to everything I could have imagined. I could live at Hollywood Studios and be content.

Chelsea and Andy Griffith.

On the movie lot tour...

It was stormy and wet as you can see. We were prepared with ponchos. Rain or shine, we were going to hit every ride.

Julia showing off her excitement.

Selfie. I gave up on my hair on Tuesday. But my poncho was ADORABLE.

I LOVED the Rock 'N Roller Coast. It was amazing. 

I lost count of how many times we rode the Tower of Terror. 

Luckily, it cleared up in the evening and we were able to enjoy Fantasmic.

Got to admit, Florida was really pretty despite the humidity.

I love Sorceror Mickey!

We headed back to Magic Kingdom and waited for our bus shuttle back to the hotel and started playing Heads Up. What is Heads Up, you ask? It's a game where one person holds the phone up to their head and everyone else describes the word, phrase, character, or whatever word is there until the person names it. This became our to-do activity when we were waiting in line, on the bus, or otherwise bored. And we may have convinced like 20 people to purchase the game from the App Store as well (we should have been getting commission for that!)

Next up? Epcot.

Happiest: Day 1

One morning, I was driving into work, when I got a voice message through my nifty walkie-talkie app from my friend, Linds. It was very simple: Would I want to go to Disney World with her, Julia, and another girl?

The response to the recording went something like: 
"Yes... Oh my gosh, Yes. YES YES YES! Yes. I will go. I want to go. I'll make it work."

And so it began. The purchasing of tickets, the evening of planning: all led to the monumental day when four of us packed off to Orlando for a week of play.

Conference weekend was hectic enough (I worked through the three sessions on Saturday and the morning session on Sunday) and then spent the afternoon session packing my suitcase and waiting for my ride.

Once at the airport and checked in, we enjoyed one last Cafe Rio trip and then board our plane. Arriving around midnight, we waited patiently for our shuttle to the hotel. We arrived, checked in, and made it to our room, exhausted. However, we had to figure out when we would catch the shuttle to Universal Studios in the morning before we crashed in our beds.

The alarm started too soon, but we were ready. We headed for Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. Three of us are Harry Potter fans, so we knew that if we were going to be in Orlando, we were going to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Stepping out of the hotel room quickly reminded me that Florida is not California. The humidity is slightly stifling. 

We took a shuttle bus to Universal Studios and then proceeded to the Islands of Adventure, stopping to take some awesome pictures. 

We made a bee-line for our real purpose. Upon arrival at Harry Potter World, I had to take it all in. The sights. The sounds. The authenticity. 

And then it was time to play. We started going through all of the rides. Even being single riders on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey so we could decide whether we should actually stand in line for an hour. (We were good with one ride).

We had butterbeer. Frozen butterbeer. I still dream about the butterbeer. In fact, we all do. We got three butterbeer during the day and I asked one of the workers from a muggle to a wizard if the recipe could be shared and reproduced. The answer was no, but Pinterest has provided some contenders to attempt. 

Note: you can tell that these are three different butterbeers because of the sun... And the foam is the most amazing part.

We went on plenty of other rides, including a couple of water rides. The outside temperature was in the 90s, so a cool water ride was welcomed except the humidity made it difficult to dry off. 

That evening we caught the only shuttle back to our hotel. A bus. And we had to stand the entire 20 minute ride back to the hotel. But it was worth it. We then discussed the plans for heading to Disney World.