Day Seven of Vacation: Universal!

We had a lot to do on our final day of vacation! Island of Adventure and Universal Studios opened at 9 and closed at 6. That's a lot of rides and fun in a short amount of time! Danny has never been to either parks, so he was convinced it couldn't be done...I on the other hand knew different! Danny was so freakin' excited...he was making up songs and dancing in his seat the entire way to the park!

First up....Island of Adventure. Danny was so excited to ride the Hulk coaster, so that was first on the list. Then it was Superman and enjoying the sites.

That morning I had the brilliant idea to change memory cards. I'm snapping away pictures, go to review them and oh.my.God....where are my pictures?! So, I had a mild-freak-out before the rest of the day. Alas the pictures were found...but not before I took the "lets see if its working" picture...

After that fiasco we did our only water ride of the vacation! Jurasic Park...seriously, I love that ride. I also love that the do-do-do-do-do song gets stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

THEN! We traveled into the new part of the park: Harry Potter. I'm not a fan, but I was excited for this. And so was everyone else in Orlando. I found all the people that were missing from the rest of our vacation...it was packed. We stood in the longest line for the awesome Harry Potter ride and I can honestly say I was scared during it. And I swear something touched me.

Everyone was standing in line for Butterbeer. So we jumped on board. Only to find out that it was non-alcoholic. That was quite dissappointing.

We finished up a few rides and headed to Margaritaville for lunch and a few drinks. I thought it would be fun if we went to the Blue Man Group...but when we found out that tickets were 90 bucks we crossed it right off the list!

Then we went to Universal Studios. I've done all the rides there...and they were just as fun as I remember. They have a new coaster and it was my favorite ride of  vacation! They take a video of you (that you can buy for the ripoff price of $40!) and you get to pick the music you listen to. You need to ride it!

After our fun day in the sun (the only day I was actually warm!) we headed back to the hotel. We had no plans for the night so we decided to wing it. We got room service....pizza...classy! Then we went down to the pool to watch Toy Story and drink some margaritas! It was the perfect way to end vacation!

The next morning we packed up, loaded up the car, had our final Disney breakfast and got on the road. An astounding 8 1/2 hours later we were back in Raleigh picking up Little Miss Miley. She got a fairly good report card from her grandparents...she dug, barked...and escaped twice. EEK!

We had such a great vacation. At the time it felt like it was going by so slow, but after writing about everything I feel like it FLEW by! We've already started talking about where we want to go next year for vacation. Vegas, anyone?

Day Six of Vacation: Animal Kingdom and The Boardwalk

The sixth day of vacation was rough. I felt sick but I was determined to still have fun. Six days of fun is so tiring and I was really feeling it. We had plans to sleep in...but because we didn't want to miss anything at the Animal Kingdom we got up early and made our way to the park.

Animal Kingdom was packed compared to the other parks...but there were still no lines. We did all the rides Bugs Life show, Everest, Dinosaur...everything except for the water ride. I hate walking around wet for the rest of the day, so uncomfy! Then we did the Safari, the best part was seeing two rhinos fight...I wish we could have stopped the truck to see the whole thing! In all honesty I don't agree with capturing and parading around animals...it's not natural no matter how big the area is. 

We did everything in the park super fast because I was feeling so crappy. But for some reason I still felt the need to get a drink and jalapeno and cheddar pretzel....and it made me feel better! Before we left we watched the Lion King show. I liked it but it wasn't what we were expecting.

We left the park pretty early so I could get some rest before our big night. In December I made reservations for the Polynesian show, I gave them my credit card number and according to the confirmation e-mail we were "guaranteed seats." So, when we got back to the hotel I had the great idea to pick up our tickets. After not finding my name on the list, she tells me our reservation was "auto-canceled." Um...why? She had no answer for me. I was a little mad but honestly...not that disappointed. However, if it shows up on my credit card I will raise hell....they canceled it, NOT me!

After a short nap we decided to make reservations at Cat Cora's restaurant at the Boardwalk. Seriously, best decision ever. The food was so so so so good. We had spanikopita for our appetizer, I had pasta with saffron lamb ragu and Danny had the fisherman's stew. Even though dessert was included in our plan we passed...I learned my lesson from the day before! Our awesome waiter brought out a Happy Anniversary cupcake for us, I took just a little bit and can tell you it was delicious!

  

After dinner we walked around the Boardwalk and saw two magicians. I have never laughed so hard.  The weather was perfect and there was no one around...I think it's my new favorite place! Then we went to Jellyrolls, a piano bar. In Boston I used to go to Jake Ivories ALL the time, I have yet to find a piano bar/dance club like that (I need to get my butt to Charlotte for Howl at the Moon.) We paid an outrageous cover charge and listened to some music for awhile.

We headed back to the hotel and I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow! 

Day Five of Vacation: Magic Kingdom and Texas de Brazil

I bet you have no idea what my favorite part of vacation is. Breakfast. I seriously love breakfast and it's even better if it's a buffet! On Tuesday morning we were up early, put on our Mickey Ears, got on the bus and went to the Magic Kingdom. We got there just in time to see the opening of the park and rushed past the crowed to enjoy our breakfast at the Crystal Palace. Most people go to the Crystal Palace to visit with Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore...not us! We rushed the buffet line and ate until we had to be rolled out of the restaurant. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But we ate some yummy food...it was a great start to the day!

As soon as we walked out of breakfast the day started going downhill...Pirates of the Caribbean was closed...and the Haunted Mansion. Seriously? Our first ride of the day was It's a Small World. Then, for the first time in all my Disney visits, we went to the Hall of Presidents. It's seriously never open when I'm there. I'm the loser who had tears in my eyes the entire time. Yes, I'm a History major! But then the disappointment continued when Space Mountain wasn't open.

After a few more rides it was time for lunch. I should have known better...chili cheese dog. What in God's name was I thinking??? But more on that later....

Because there were no lines...and half the rides weren't working...we were already done with the Magic Kingdom. But we weren't ready to leave! So we started all over again. And it's a good thing we did. All the rides were working and we got to go on everything! And my favorite show (by far!) was the Monster Inc. comedy show...love it! I was even put on the screen with the caption "chose to wear her scary costume today." I blame the ears!

When we were really done with the park, we went back to the hotel, got all dressed up...and left Disney for the night. A few years ago when I was in Aruba we went to Texas de Brazil and I never forgot it. So, when I found the same restaurant in Orlando I was psyched! I had an overpriced Corona (that she poured into a glass...which makes it taste funny!) and lots and lots of food. Seriously, the salad bar is what they serve in heaven. The meat was good...but by the time I got around to it, I was already stuffed.

After dinner we hit up Redbox...how lame are we? This time we watched You Don't Know Jack. Disney has to be the worlds most tiring place...I must have passed out during the opening credits! But, I was rudely woken up at 4AM with an awful stomachache. I either picked up something up from germy kids...or the more logical answer: too much food! It wasn't a fun way to end the day!

Day Four of Vacation: Hollywood Studios and Artist Point

 We spent Valentines Day at Hollywood Studios...aka the park formerly known as MGM. But to me it will always be MGM! Lucky for us the weather was starting to get nice...so we weren't the only goons in shorts.

We were nervous when our bus pulled up in front of the park...there was a ton of construction around the Tower of Terror. There are only (in my opinion) two or three good rides at Hollywood Studios...it would suck if the best one wasn't even open! But thank goodness...it was open, the only ride that wasn't was Star Tours.

The park opened at 9, and by 9:30 we were already done with Tower of Terror and Rockin' Rollercoaster. I love being an early bird! Then we went on the Great Movie Ride, saw Danny's girlfriend (The Little Mermaid) and wandered around for a while. For lunch we went to Pizza Planet. You know, like Toy Story! And it was super yummy!

After lunch we went to the American Idol show! Three everyday-park-visitors are picked to sing, the winner goes onto the big show of the night, the winner of that gets a ticket to go to the front of the line for American Idol auditions. That's pretty sweet! Then we watched the Indiana Jones show, Danny kicked my butt on the Toy Story ride and we did the Backlot Tour. It's amazing how much shorter it is! Remember back in the day when they showed houses...like the Golden Girls home? What ever happened to that?!

We finished the park early (love no lines!) and headed to the hotel pool for a few drinks. Apparently when the Life Guards change shifts they do the Cupids Shuffle. Such a cute idea. Oh, and it was beautiful out!

For our Valentine's Day dinner we went to the Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge. Oh.My.God. The resort is HUGE and beautiful! And the restaurant?! Words can't even explain it! We got a bottle of Riesling and started with sourdough bread with black sea salt butter. Mmmm! For my meal I had buffalo with brussel sprouts and mac and cheese. Danny had venison. Once again we were forced (the scale is my biggest enemy right now!) to eat dessert. Danny had cobbler and I had a gigantic brick of chocolate. So yummy!

Our super romantic and tiring Valentines Day ended with the laptop and Netflix. We watched the Social Network (which was the topic of conversation over the rest of vacation.....) and passed out for the night! Such a great Valentines Day!

Day Three of Vacation: Epcot!

Day three of vacation but the first day of Disney! We didn't set any alarms but because we were still on Miley's schedule we were up by 7:30. We lounged around and showered and then made our way to Epcot. Epcot has always been my favorite...and once again I was not disappointed!

Danny didn't believe me that we could spend all day at Epcot, and really I think it's the only park you can spend all day at. We started in the front of the park and did all the rides...Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Test Track, and The Seas with Finding Nemo. I swore I would never do Mission Space ever again, but Danny has never been on it...so I sucked it up. Just a note: I still hate closed spaces and having my lungs feeling like they are going to explode. Not my favorite ride. And we did Soarin'. I liked it, Danny thought it was a little boring. I think they need to refresh their citrus smell, it wasn't as amazing as I remember!

Then we headed to the other side of the park....to all the countries! We started in Mexico, with margaritas and beers. We hungout with Vikings, wore silly hats in China, drank Oktoberfest in Germany, Danny thought the naked statue in Italy was awkward, and bought Sake in Japan!

We had dinner at Marrakesh in Morocco. It was a-maaaaa-zing. My drink tasted great and was garnished with a fig. For our appetizer we had goat cheese with tabbouleh and red pepper sauce. I had chicken kebabs with couscous and Danny had lamb shank. The Disney Dining Plan does not play around. I was forced to eat dessert! I had three different kinds of baklava and Danny had some kind of puffy pastry with sauce and almonds. We were stuffed!

After dinner we headed over to listen to some live music...The British! They sang all Beatles songs! As you can imagine, I was in heaven! I drank a super expensive Kahlua and coffee and froze my toes off, we were seriously the only people in shorts that day!

We stuck around for fireworks and then headed home for the night. Epcot was a success....and still my favorite park!

Day Two of Vacation: Sea World and Downtown Disney

On Saturday the 12th we got back into the car and finished our roadtrip to Orlando! It took four hours to get from Savannah to Sea World...a short trip, if I lived in Savannah I would want to go to Disney all the time!

I was super excited for Sea World. At first we weren't planning to visit, but on a random concert search a few weeks ago I found out that Huey Lewis and the News was going to be playing for free. And thanks to Hero Salute we got in completely free...and bonus I met up with my bloggy love, Bonnie! You have no idea how excited I was to meet her and the two munchkins! Seriously, she has the most adorable kiddies...the only ones that could ever give me baby fever! (Like, a low grade fever that only makes me skip something important and doesn't require medicine...know what I mean?)

  

We spent the whole day at the park with Bonnie, Noah, Gracie, and their friend Tina. We had lots of fun with Noah navigating, looking at sharks, dolphins, fish..and lots of other stuff. We avoided the water ride like the plague...it was pretty cold out! I was thanking God that I made the last minute decision to pack a hoodie! We did ride the new coaster, Manta though. You lay on your stomach...awesome!

It was Danny's first time at Sea World, so he didn't notice that Believe was noticeably shorter...thanks to the little incident with a killer whale. The Budweiser horses aren't there anymore...and neither is the free beer! Sad, sad day!

After a fun filled day with everyone, me and Danny headed to the concert. It was so fun! Huey Lewis sounds just like he does on CD's...but you could tell it was live. Little to no talking, awesome music, accapella, it was perfect! Perfect but freezing!

When the concert was over we headed to our hotel. We stayed at the All Star Music Resort. We got anniversary pins, I was given a pretty rose, and Mickey was waiting for us on the bed! We got dressed, boarded the bus and headed to Downtown Disney for the night. We ate at Fulton's Crab House...Danny had crab legs and I had sauteed mussels and pasta. We walked around for a while, went in some stores and soaked up the atmosphere. But it was so darn chilly and crowded!

I can honestly say I slept like a baby in our huge bed! And I miss it already!

Day One of Vacation: Savannah

It's so nice to be back home...but at the same time, I definitely did not want to leave Florida! The weather was just starting to be perfect...I could have stuck around for much longer! But now that I'm home I get to share our awesome vacation with you!

Vacation started on Thursday the 10th. We drove Miley out to the in-laws where she would be spending the week. On the 11th we started the real vacation! The drive from Raleigh to Savannah was only 5 hours long...shorter than we thought it would be. And I had some super yummy roadtrip food...Dunkaroos! Remember those?

We got to Savannah around noon, checked into the hotel, and headed out for a fun-filled-day of drinking...OR SO WE THOUGHT!

Our first stop was the Moon River Brewing Company. We had some awesomely cheesy nachos, Danny drank "Nick's Balls of Gold," and I had two Roadtrip Hard Ciders...and man-oh-man...they hit me hard and fast. 

Our next stop was Wet Willies. We each had two super strong and super delicious drinks and took the mandatory tourist photo. 

At this point it was only 5, I was exhausted and feeling super old. We headed back to the hotel to rest before our ghost tour....we set the alarm for 7:00. I passed out. At 9:30 Danny shot up out of bed...and I was so out of it that I was convinced we could still make our ghost walk. Needless to say...we didn't. We ordered pizza...I passed out again and slept like a baby all night. The best part of falling asleep at 5:30PM? You're hangover hits around midnight...and is completely gone by the time morning rolls around!

I had every intention of doing much more in Savannah..but my body had other plans for me. But it was vacation..no expectations and plenty of time for napping. Just means we'll have to go back again!

And in my short time in Savannah...I made a very interesting observation. Savannah smells much worse than Jersey. Just a little FYI! Here are a few more pictures we snapped around the city....