Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow 7:45 PM

Yesterday, we went to Epcot. When we got to the park, we were standing in line, a woman walked up to us and said "Do these two belong to you guys?" and pointed to James and Zachary. They asked the boys to open the park. The park gave them pirate hats and swords and everybody counted down from 10 and at 1 the boys waved the swords and the turnstyles started working and everyone was let in. They were given certificates that said "Pirates of the Day". LUCKY!!! Then we headed over to Test Track. The ride is where you are supposed to be a crash test dummie. It was a pretty fun ride. It actually got up to almost 70 miles an hour(that pretty fast for a ride). Right next door was Mission: Space. Brittany was scared of all the warnings about the ride, we were unsure of if the boys could handle it, so me and Bratt's dad just went on it. They have warnings all over the place. There are signs on the wall, there are warnings in video while waiting in line, they ask you if you would like to opt out before you board, and right before we got on, we saw a cast member walking around holding barf bags. We were asking each other, "What are we getting ourselves into?!" And you know what it was? Star Tours. You watch a movie and the shuttle bounces. That's all. It was really fun but I just can't believe all those warnings. It made it seem like spikes come down from the ceiling and flames shoot out from under your seats. Brittany, her mom and the boys were nowhere to be found so we got right back on. This time we had the shuttle all to ourselves(getting to the park early pays off). We just goofed around the whole time. They give each person a job to do and special buttons to push and it will boost your shuttle and stuff but you only do it like once. This ride were flipping all kinds of unnecessary switches and pushing unlit buttons. It was really funny. It reminded me of the launch from "RocketMan". "KFC....AT&T". When we got off, they were all waiting for us at the exit. After finding out the the ride was no big deal, we got Brittany and James on it. We told Brittany that all of her switches(that are only for show) had to be flipped up before we could take off. It took her about 9 switches before she realized we were messing with her. And then James'(who I think really thought we were going to Mars) button started to flash and we told him "James, you gotta push your button!" You should've seen the look of horror on James face that he needed to push that button and hadn't yet. It was hilarious. Sorry...Moving along to something other than Mission: Space. We headed over to "The Seas with Nemo and Friends". We watched Turtle Talk with Crush and Crush saw James and Zachary wearing the same shirt and talked them. It was pretty cool and really funny. Then we rode the Nemo ride. It's gives Peter Pan a run for it's money as the best "kid" ride. We ate lunch at the Coral Reef Restaurant. It was incredible. I got a great steak and we could see a sharks, schools of fish and sea turtles in the tank next to us. It was a very cool experience! Pricey to say the least though. After we ate, we rode Soarin'. This ride should not be here. You soar over California. Same everything. Except the line feels like you are on the set of Star Search. Cheap recreating stole from Disneyland. :( Then we headed over to the World Showcase where you can walk across the world. You feel like you are actually in each country. It's pretty cool. I really liked the United Kingdom, China, and Mexico. It was really cool. The day ended with Fireworks on the lake in the center of all the countries. A KILLER firework show. I think the fireworks(just fireworks sake) are better at Epcot than Magic Kingdom. Overall, we were at the park for over 13 hours. But it was a FULL day and probably the best experience at park so far this trip.

Welcome to the Jungle 5:56 PM

Today was the hottest day so far! The humidity really got to us! This was partly the heat, partly being inside the tropical location of Disney's Animal Kingdom. We got to sleep in a little today until about 8:30 but only because we didn't get back to the hotel until 1a.m. last night and still had to eat dinner then. We got to the park around 9:20. Mine and Brittany's passes didn't work while trying to get in(this has been a reoccuring part of this vacation. Including today, we are now on our 4th set of tickets. It hasn't been a big problem; it has just been a pain in the butt). Then it was off to Everest. The line was already an hour long so we just decided to get fast passes. After, it was not even 10 o'clock it was already excrusiatingly hot so we headed straight to the River Water Rapids. While in line, Brittany spotted a "newborn baby monkey" in a monkey area. It was about the size of koda, and she wanted to hold it and say "I your momma!". We rode it...twice. AND GOT SOAKED! It was fantastic. After while, we headed back over to Everest and got on. I have loved and had fun on every rollercoaster we have been on since we got here but this one messed me up! It was a lot of fun and definitely exciting but with all the riding forwards, backwards, forwards in the dark, and fast...Tim came off a little wobbley. By 3p.m. we were all toast and had had our fill of Animal Kingdom. Got back to the Hotel and took a three hour nap. I think it's pretty necessary to have this recharging of our batteries because we are only half way through this vacation and having a blast. Almost too much fun. Haha. Wait, there's no such thing.

Disney's MGM Studios 8:05 PM

Once again we got to the park before the park opened at 9a.m. As soon as they let us in the gate, we headed to Aerosmith's Rock'N'Roller Coaster(along with everyone else in the park). We got on the ride and it was great! Zero to 60 in 2.7 seconds! As soon as the ride takes off, they take you right into a loop and then a corkscrew and with most of the ride taking place in close to complete darkness, you have no idea what's going on! It's almost like a Space Mountain on mega steriods. My only complaint is that it is too short. By the time you start to realize that this ride is awesome, it's over. We got off and there was a 40 minute wait already(no fastpasses) so we rode it one more time because we knew that the line would just get longer being that RockNRoller Coaster and Tower of Terror are the only two "big" attractions at MGM. After we got of the coaster for the second time, I headed over to Tower of Terror. The one in California Adventure is just better. Plain and simple. This one felt like the drops were more predictable and not as long. We watched all 3 of the shows that I would want to: The Stunt Show, Indiana Jones, and Beauty and the Beast. The Stunt show with the cars was NUTS! It was incredible, the way they handled those cars! The Indiana Jones Stunt Show was awesome as well. Basically watching just Indiana Jones scenes live. I never realized how cool it was to watch random bad guys fall off buildings. The rest of the day, we just walked around and enjoyed the park and did all the little other things there are to do. It was way better day than I make it sound in here. I had a lot of fun but we are all just EXHAUSTED so tomorrow, we are going to sleep in a little bit and then hit Downtown Disney and then Typhoon Lagoon Water Park instead going to another one of the main theme parks. Well, BEDTIME. Seacrest Out!

FULL, Fun-Filled First Day 9:28 PM

7:04a.m. - Eyes open...WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD TODAY!

Got up and dressed, we were at the Magic Kingdom a half hour before the park opened at 9:00. I was sweating 15 minutes before it opened. It was HOT! "AHH...THE HUMIDITY!" We rode the monorail in to the front gate which is awesome. You just look out the window as you get nearer to it and you start to see the top of the castle and Space Mountain. Immediate excitement! We went straight Fantasyland when the park opened to beat the crowd. I looked around... it looked like Disneyland, smelled like Disneyland, felt like Disneyland....but it wasn't. Disneyworld feels like you went to an Alternate Reality version of Disneyland. I kept saying it felt like someone went to Disneyland and said, "This is great, but I think this is how it should be." and there you have Disneyworld. The castle here feels HUGE! They were saying that it is the same size but I can't believe that. It's just enormous. We rode some great rides. I think Philharmagic was my favorite of the day. You guys would all love it. It feels like a mixture between Soarin' Over California and It's Tough to be a Bug but it is all Disney characters and all fun(no evil villains or bad things happen). Space Mountain feels like someone took the Matterhorn and put it inside. I got TOSSED AROUND on that ride but it was still a lot of fun. Pirates of the Caribbean is a lot different in my opinion(but then again, I am picky about that ride). All the Captain's chamber rooms(rooms with all the gold and treasures) are not in this version of the ride and the talking skull at the beginning is nowhere to be found...HE'S ONE OF THE BEST PARTS! Oh well, it was still fun. The outside of the ride looks a lot cooler here. It's got a big black sail that says "Pirates of the Caribbean" on it. And I liked Jack Sparrow in this ride a little more for some reason. BUT I would still take my Disneyland Pirates over this one anyday. We rode quite a few other cool rides too that I will tell you about but seeing as how it's almost 1 here, I gotta get my butt to sleep to get up at 7 again tomorrow. Tomorrow we are hitting MGM Studios. I am looking forward to riding Tower of Terror, Aerosmith's Rock'N'Roller Coaster, and seeing the Stunt show. And I'm...spent!

Travels to Orlando 7:57 PM

Today we began the long journey to Orlando, Florida quite early. We even beat the sun up. And as you guys know, the sun is usually beating me up before I even get to bed. We hit the road at 4:30a.m. sharp. We drove two hours to San Francisco to catch our plane. It was cool because we reached the city just as it got light out so we were able to see the sunrise while on the Bay Bridge and could see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. We got to the SF Airport about an hour and a half before our flight and surprisely got right through security. Bratt was hungry and got some soup and with her soup, she got complimentary mini-loaf of sourdough(which Tim thought was delicious). Before we could start our 55 minute flight to L.A., we had to wait for a group of 3 people who boarded drunk and would not stop talking for all of those 55 minutes. When we reached L.A. and had a 37 minute layover. We boarded United Flight 272 non-stop to Orlando(in row 13 on Friday the 13th). Two movies, five hours, and one short nap later, we landed in Orlando Airport at 6:55pm (Local Time). Now, it was time to collect our checked baggage that we hoped had made the switch of planes at our layover in L.A. Which it did make it but due to intense thunderstorms, the metal baggage ramp was closed for over an hour so our luggage was not able to be unloaded. FINALLY after the wait and after corralling all of our bags(and the twins) we got in the car AND THE HARD PART WAS OVER! We made it to the hotel(which is nice!) and got KFC and Pizza Hut breadsticks for dinner(after a whole day on a plane with nothing but crap to eat, tastes like filot minon). And now with high spirits and a whole lot of butterflies in our tummies, Tim and Bratt call it a night. Tomorrow -- DISNEYWORLD MAGIC KINGDOM!