Winding down from Disney

We returned from our Disney World trip a week ago and what a whirlwind it has been! The trip flew by much too fast, of course, but we were eager to get back to our real lives and the slower pace that entails. As I mentioned before, we stayed with my husband's parents in a time-share condo on the Disney World grounds in Orlando, Florida. The condo was a very nice two bedroom unit with two bathrooms. Our room had one queen size bed, and a double sleeper sofa. The sofa was a newer kind of sleeper that we had never seen before. Rather than pulling off the cushions and finding the mattress folded under the seat, you pull a strap from the back of the top and the whole seating area, including the back, comes folding forward. It was really neat the way it worked, and we were shocked to find a memory foam mattress unfolding from back there. It was very comfortable too, much better than the old "bar in your back" variety.

Anyway, we spent a day in each park and got to see most everything we wanted. I was a bit disappointed that the Disney characters are so hard to see now. When we went three years ago with our oldest daughter, the characters were just milling around the parks and there was that element of surprise when the kids saw one and could just run up and give them a hug. Now, there are always lines to see them and at Epcot, there is actually a "Character Meet and Greet" building where all the big characters like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Donald Duck are, but we would've had to wait over an hour in line before seeing them. I was afraid that after standing in the line so long, the kids might either be bored with the whole thing or panic after having it built up for so long. So we opted not to stand in that line. We did see some of the lesser known characters around the park, like Chip and Dale, the Brother Bears, and Rafiki from the Lion King.

The kids had a lot of fun and my three year old son keeps asking when we are going back to Disney World so we can return the cards to Mickey Mouse. We let him keep the park entry cards, which look like credit cards with Disney characters on the front. He thinks they work like credit cards too, because when I told him I would bring quarters to play in the machine at the grocery store yesterday, he informed me that he didn't need money since he had the card. Then he proceeded to flash the card in my direction and slipped it into his coat pocket.

I'll share more vacation stories in the coming weeks, and will post some pictures too.