The morning of my parents arrival, I was lucky enough to be able to go on a backstage tour of The Haunted Mansion at the Magic Kingdom. Besides the fact that we (roommate Allie, neighbors Brian and Matty, one of Matty's friends, and I all went together) had to get up at 5 to make it on time, every single thing about this tour was beyond cool. We got to walk through the entire ride with all the lights on while our tour guide, a fabulous woman named Ginger, told us all kinds of secrets and tricks. If you've never been on The Haunted Mansion ride, there is an "endless hallway" and a dining room scene you watch from above. We got to walk down the endless hallway (not ALL the way down...that would be a long walk!) and go down into the dining room. We also got to go into the control room and see all the computers and things that keep the ride running smoothly. I wish I could tell all the secrets we learned, but I have a feeling that would be frowned upon, so...I'm sorry!
Now, my parents visit. We have visited Disney World as a family once in 2004, accompanied by our closest family friends, the Tassins. While we had a good time, we definitely did not "do Disney" the right way. Thanks to my visits with other people in the past several years, and of course the fact that I work here now, I've learned much more about how to plan trips here. So, needless to say, I had my parents trip regimented down to the hour, pretty much. The afternoon of their arrival happened to coincide with the last launch of Discovery, so my mom and brother detoured to see it. I tried to get there, but the traffic was so bad I only made it about halfway. However, I did see it up in the sky for a couple seconds, so it was worth it!
Eric and Mom got stuck in traffic on their way to Lake Buena Vista, but they made in JUST in time for us to race to Fantasmic. Because Fantasmic is only shown on certain nights, usually just two nights a week during the off season, I was so happy they got to see it, since it wasn't part of the original plan. The next day we started off at DAK where they got to ride Expedition: Everest and see Finding Nemo: The Musical, both new experiences for them. Since I'm a tad biased against DAK, we headed to Epcot for lunch and spent the rest of the day there.
Then it was time for the highlight of the trip! My brother and father, both SCUBA certified, had a special backstage tour of the aquarium at The Seas, and they got to dive in the tank with all the animals (including tiger sharks), and be seen by all the guests visiting the aquarium! At this time, Mom and I were at the Grand Floridian Spa. Now I'm not really a spa person, I've never had a massage because I don't like people touching me, and I'm so ticklish it's hard for me to even sit still through a manicure or pedicure, but I "suffered" through it. I had a facial while Mom had a massage, then we both had paraffin treatments on our hands and feet together. If you're a spa person, I'd definitely recommend the Grand Floridian! After we met back up, we had dinner at Tutto Italia (in Italy at Epcot), one of the best restaurants I've ever eaten at in Disney World, and ended the night with IllumiNations.
I'm rambling too much, so let me try to shorten this. Next day was MGM in the morning and Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day. Dad had to skip out on part of the day because SOMEHOW he hurt his foot (in my opinion it was some type of strain to the ligament in the bottom of his foot, I only know about that because I did that to myself in high school and it was terrible), and he of course refused to get any help. We did drag him to first aid to get an ace bandage, but that was the extent of it. I'm so glad I didn't inherit his stubborn attitude...(if you didn't catch the sarcasm there, I'm worried for you). That night we watched The Magic, the Memories, and You castle show, and of course...WISHES! I don't know if it resonated with them like it does with me, but they enjoyed it. After that we had a late dinner at The Wave at the Contemporary. The food was good, but our waitress was amazing. They didn't have sweet tea, so when Eric and Dad tried something else but didn't like it, she went into the back and made them sweet tea herself. Plus she started out as a CP and was very friendly the entire night, even though it was getting late.
Last day was MGM again where we FINALLY rode Toy Story Mania, then lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe, a cool themed restaurant where everyone is your cousin and they yell at you if you put your elbows on the table or don't eat all your vegetables. Then they left, and I spent the afternoon at the Polynesian Beach. Side note on this: We stayed at the Polynesian on the Club/Concierge level, something I've never done before at Disney. While it's more expensive, it was very nice. Every Concierge level at Disney has a private lounge for those guests, with a variety of food services all day long. The Poly lounge is great because it's floor to ceiling windows overlooking the water and Cinderella Castle. We had such a short visit it was hard to take advantage of the services since we were always in the park, but for a longer visit when more time was going to be spent at the resort, it's definitely something I'd recommend looking into.
To Be Continued...
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