Vacation to End all Vacations!

I recently had the opportunity to meet two iconic Star Wars actors on at trip to Disney World with my family; specifically, Peter Mayhew and Jeremy Bullock, also know as Chewbacca and Boba Fett! This marks the highlight of my two week vacation to Florida, although good times were had all throughout the vacation by everyone in my family. The following is a breakdown of our vacation, condensed of course.

The trip began with a lengthy two day drive to Cocoa Beach. We spent the first couple of days on the beach and in different hotels. The highlight of these days was the night spent at the newly built Ron Jon Resort. The room was very comfortable and there was a mini-water park on the premises that was very cool. That night we ate fresh seafood, cooked in our room by Ginny's father...I ate so many shrimp!

This a picture I took to test our new Canon digital camera, which was purchased during the drive down.

This portion of the trip was stressful, because of the cramped rooms and multiple luggage moves. In contrast, once we moved into our Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort two bedroom condo, the trip became less stressful and more enjoyable. Abby had been to Disney World once before, when she was 2, but didn't remember anything except the "Gumbo" ride. Here is a picture of her riding Dumbo on this trip. I have a picture of the first time she rode Dumbo but it is on another computer. I'll try to remember to post it later,

One of Abby's favorite things was meeting all of the characters scattered throughout the park. She filled up two autograph books with signatures and photos and this is my favorite one. Aladdin and Jasmine looked, spoke, and acted just like their animated counter-parts; they were impressive and well worth the 30 minute wait. The same can be said for most of the other characters save the few we didn't wait in line for.

Animal Kingdom was cool but we only spent a little time there in comparison to the other parks because there was so much we wanted to do at the other parks. We did ride a new roller coaster, see a few characters, went on a "safari," and ate breakfast there. I wish we had more time to explore Animal Kingdom but am satisfied with what we were able to fit in.

MGM Studios was, and always has been, my favorite park. The Star Wars weekend celebration was awesome but that is not the only reason I loved MGM. MGM is a park that appeals to movie buffs as well as kids so we all had lots of fun. Abby really wanted to ride the Tower of Terror, because she enjoyed Space Mountain so much, though started to have second thoughts the closer we came to the top. After the ride was over, she decided she didn't want to ride it again. This final pic is one that Ginny took of me breaking onto the stage that was roped off a few days before the actual weekend celebration.

I will post more pictures and the rest of our vacation in my next blog.