We have had a BUSY summer....First stop, Orlando

Oh my.  JT and I have had a very busy summer so far.  After all of the graduations and weddings, we went with the Wiser family to Orlando, Florida in early May.  Shelly and Kathy (J's aunts and some of my favorite people), are Disney gurus and had timeshare in Orlando to share with all of us.   The list of people in this timeshare included:  Grandma and Grandpa Wiser, Shelly, Kathy, Mom and Dad Wiser, Logan, Andrew, and us.  We had a blast.  The last time I had been to Disney World was when I was 5, so it was neat to experience it from the view of an adult.

Here are some of my personal observations:

Magic Kingdom- Totally Charming.  The setting and details in this park created a very endearing and likable atmosphere.  Understandably, this is the park with the most children and items of nostalgia. My favorite ride in this park was Splash Mountain.  

Epcot-  This park was not as exciting ride-wise as the rest.  Logan and Andrew preferred to avoid this park due to that. However, I still found it enjoyable and I loved the around the world aspect.  And we rode Soarin' several times.

Looking into the future?  :)

Logan and Andrew's joke is that the scooters are the best ride in Epcot.

At one point, J had to take a conference call.  Working hard!

Grandpa had mastered the scooter.  

Animal Kingdom-   This was my personal favorite.  I think it may be because I LOVE animals.  Seriously, Steven Irwin was my idol for many years in my pre-teens and to this day, I can spend hours in zoos without getting bored.  I also loved the setting, it felt like we were in the Himalayas.  We went on the Safari ride several times because I enjoyed it so much.  

 

This guys walked right in front of our car....it was awesome!

Hollywood Studios-  I didn't seem to get any pictures of this one.  Oops. I actually really liked Tower of Terror.  They don't have handels to hold onto, so the first time I rode it, when we dropped, I panicked and grabbed JT's thigh and Andrew's thigh....oops.  Andrew gave me a hard time about that for the rest of the trip.

We also went to Universal Studios.

Of course, we stopped at Hogwarts!  I think they did a great job with the setting.  It was very enchanting.  And the butterbeer......I could drink that stuff by the bucket loads.  Seriously.  It was SO good.

I thought of Megan when I saw these posters....haha

We also stopped by Cape Canaveral.  It was pretty neat to see the space craft that Grandpa Wiser was a part of.  And we saw several wild gators!  Awesome.

I learned a few things about myself through this trip.  

1.  I do NOT do simulator rides.  They make me sick as a dog.

2.  I'm not as young as a used to be.  After riding Space Mountain for the 3rd time in a row, my body was ready to call it quits for a while.

3.  I really appreciate thematic elements incorporated into the rides.

4.  I like amusement parks, but I don't love them.  I think I might rather visit them for a day and then spend the rest of the time hiking, looking for wildlife, or checking out museums.

5.  I really could drink buckets of butterbeer....and I don't really like soda.

Overall, we had a great time and we were happy to spend some time with our family!