Three Parks in One Day!

I have been spending a lot of time on the boards over at Be Our Guest Podcast. In a way, it's sort of like a Facebook for Disney freaks. I am proud to be one of those! There was a thread started recently over there called "4 Parks In One Day!?!?!" I was going to post something on that thread, a story of Bruce and me doing 3 parks in one day, but I decided to blog about it instead.

Bruce and I went on a Disney vacation in 1995. This is when I really fell in love with Walt Disney World. I just felt something on that trip that I never really felt on any of our trips there as a child. I can't really explain it but I know that my fellow Disney Friends will know what I am talking about. Anyway, I didn't get back there again until 2004, when B1 was 7 and B2 was 4. It was a long, long awaited trip and one that was everything I hoped it would be. After we returned home from that trip, we immediately began to plan another for 2008. However, after about a year and a half with no Disney, my heart was longing to be there.

On July 1, 2006, Bruce's best friend's dad passed away in Spring Hill, Florida. This is a subarb of Tampa. Patrick has been a big part of Bruce's life since 2nd grade and when Bruce's dad passed away back in 1990, even though Patrick already lived in Florida at that time, he came home for the funeral. Patrick has since become a good friend to me as well and since I am now married to Bruce, I thought I should go along to Florida for the memorial service, which was going to be held on July 6. We flew out of a small airport which only has flights on certain days. We flew down on July 4 and that night, we watched firewords over Tampa Bay with all of Patrick's family. It was nice. Our girls stayed home with my parents so it was only the 2 of us traveling together. July 5 was a day when the family made final preparations for the memorial service. We were there to help with this if they needed us. But as it turned out, they did not. Therefore, since we were only 1.5 hours from Orlando and we still had days left on our 2004 passes which didn't expire, off we went!

I think we arrived at Disney by 10am that morning. I first wanted to go to Animal Kingdom because their newest ride, Expedition Everest, had opened and I wanted to experience it! I remember calling my cousin while standing in that line and asking her "where do you think I am?" She guessed it! She is a Disney freak too. After that, we went over to DinoLand USA and rode DINOSAUR and then we left Animal Kingdom. I love DINOSAUR. Next up was (then) MGM Studios. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is my favorite ride ever. Of any ride. Ever. I LOVE IT! After riding it and eating a Mickey ice cream bar, we went over to "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Play It" because it was a hot day and that was an air-conditioned attraction where we could sit for awhile. Then we left the studios. Last park for the day: Magic Kingdom. All I really had to do was stand at the end of Main Street USA and breathe deeply while I stared at Cinderella's Castle. Ahhhhh.........oh the view, and the feeling of just being there. I really can't remember exactly which attractions we chose to visit there but I'm pretty sure that Small World and the Haunted Mansion were 2 of them. We also ate dinner at Columbia Harbor House. I don't believe we stuck around for Wishes or Spectromagic that night because we knew we had a bit of a drive ahead of us as well as a full day following. But I was able to get my Disney "fix" for another 2 years, until we returned in 2008. Let me tell you too, it was sure nice being able to zip into and out of those parks with no children! I love my kids but once in awhile, it's nice being on our own. No strollers, no bags, and not even a purse.....just us with sunglasses, a bit of money in our pockets, and a small camera! Heavenly!

Our next trip is most likely going to be the week-long cruise as well as 2 or 3 days in the parks in 2011. I am not sure, though, if I can wait that long to feel the Disney magic again. I would love some little weekend trip sometime between now and then. I guess we'll just have to wait and see............