Florida: Part IV - Disney

I have a love/hate relationship with Disney.  They are the best company EVER.  They do an excellent job of getting you excited for your trip and making sure that everything you do is as easy as possible.  At work, marketing throws around the phrase "surprise and delight" a lot and Disney is amazing at it.  When I start my own business, I plan to run it just like Disney.  On the other hand, my god, everything is fake and it disgusts me that I get so much pleasure from it.

10-4-12 - Surprise & Delight

That being said, we stayed at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, which is the same place I stayed on our family trip when I was 12.  I won't stay there again.  The campus is too big (it took us 15 minutes to walk to the food court) and it turns out we spent next to no time at the resort itself, so the extra money I spent on a "water view room", was wasted.  Alison enjoyed our Finding Nemo decor, though, and now knows the names of all of the main characters, plus their species names.

 10-2-12 - Our Resort

On our first day in town, we went to Epcot, Nathan's favorite park, which had celebrated its 30th birthday two days before (that's right, Epcot is only three days older than Nathan).  Though there are fewer rides than Magic Kingdom, the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival was going on, and we discovered what makes Epcot truly amazing: alcohol!  (The food's not bad either.) 

10-3-12 - Nathan, his commemorative stein, and Sugar Ray (were you aware that his career has hit rock-bottom?  Well, he now plays three times nightly at Epcot)

Alison was wowed by Figment's Journey into Imagination ride (which we were the second, third, and fourth people to ride that day) and by the aquarium in the Finding Nemo section.  She even found Nemo, a video that I'll post later on her blog.  We had lunch in (mock) Morocco and dinner in (sham) Japan.  Life was good.

 10-3-12 - Playing all by ourselves in the Journey into Imagination Ride

10-3-12 - "I find Nemo!" - Alison

10-3-12 - Morocco

The next day we visited the Magic Kingdom.  I am a very big fan of the Magic Kingdom.  It has better rides.  We rode on almost everything, minus the Hall of Presidents (awww) and the Peter Pan ride.  Alison had a very clear favorite.  When we finished the It's a Small World ride, she tried to climb backwards out of the boat, screaming, "Go Back!".  We went on it twice and that was about all we could take.

10-4-12 - Kings & a Castle

10-4-12 - Astro Orbiter

10-4-12 - I guess Disney CAN make you younger

We had a nice dinner in the sit-down restaurant at the hotel, put Alison to bed, and ate mini-Mickey-cakes. 

Dare I say, this whole trip was "magical"?  No, I dare not, but we all had a lot of fun.  Our next trip is my choice since we planned to travel for both of our big birthdays.  I can't wait!  Any suggestions?