By Tracy - 3/27/07 - "Back home...for now"

We left Kissimmee about 4 a.m. and arrived back home about 1 p.m. After unloading and unpacking, we rushed out to get Rachel to her first softball practice and from there, Brian went onto work. It's so hard to believe this vacation is over. It was a wonderful opportunity to spend that time together as a family and for the girls to experience Disney with Grandpa there too.

We really enjoyed the touring we did around FL, and we were all glad when Brian joined us for the last half of our trip. The time in Kissimmee/Orlando was far from relaxing though...we were BUSY! But what fun...we had a blast!

I, of course, really enjoyed checking off four more lighthouses from my list and adding the models to my collection. The wildlife we observed at Merritt Island and the Everglades, and the sea life out over the Coral Reef was very cool. And the gulf beaches were beautiful. The resort was fabulous too. The girls & I have already told Daddy that we need to go back to FL, stay at that resort, and actually not do Disney...just do day trips to both coasts and spend the time actually relaxing. It has hit us that, with a rising 10th grader, these family vacations may not happen for very many more years. We want to enjoy all the time together that we can!

It was so much fun to see the kids enjoy each and every aspect of the trip, but especially the Disney parks and Sea World. Amanda was not even four when she was at Disney the last time we were there and it was so "magical" then...but it was still so neat to see her enjoy getting her picture taken with the characters and getting their autographs...and just being a kid. Of course, she and Rachel tackled EVERY thrill ride they came in contact with, so it was very different than being there with a three year old. But ten years ago, Mom ENJOYED the thrill rides....but things have changed...Mama's gotten old! They did drag me on some anyway (almost kicking and screaming)! Daddy still will ride anything with them, and Grandpa even rode the most vicious roller coaster I've ever experienced. But he did say "never again". Me either!

Though we were on the go so much, it was just great to be together and to enjoy doing and seeing everything that we could. But...here we are back home, back to the real world with commitments and responsibilities and not enough hours in the day. However...the New England tour books are beside my chair with some things already highlighted! That trip won't be until the fall, but there should be some shorter excursions in the mean time, so stay tuned!

By Rachel - 3/27/07

We are done with our trip now. My favorite things we did were were Magic Kingdom (except "It's a Small World"!), MGM Studios, Sea World, Blizzard Beach, and Epcot Center. Magic Kingdom was the one that Grandpa remembered the most from the last time he was there.

If you are going to do Splash Mountain or any ride with a long wait get a FASTPASS if possible. If you go in line for Splash Mountain, make sure there is not a long line because it is not very exciting, but if you have a FASTPASS go ahead. MGM had many things for all ages. They have roller coasters, a play ground, shows that tell you about how they do stunts. Sea World was just a fun interactive place to go to. Blizzard Beach was a great place if you like water slides, which I do! If you have young children it would be great too! Epcot has many different types of things. They have World Showcase which has many different countries. There is also Future World where they have different buildings with rides and attractions such as Nemo and Friends (great for little kids,) Soarin' (family ride), and more intense rides such as Mission Space, (less intense and intense lines), and Test Track. Get FASTPASSSES because they save you the time of waiting in line. If you just enter a park, get them then so that the time to use them is not as late.

I also liked going to Disney's Wide World of Sports for a Brave's Spring Training game, and going to Daytona USA.

I probably wish that we could have spent more time on the beach. My least favorite place was St. Augustine just because it was rainy and pretty cold. The trip was a great experience and I loved that we could do it as a family.

By Amanda - 3/27/07

We are back home in sunny South Carolina. We must have brought the warm weather with us! We have mostly completed the fun task of unpacking. Yippee!

However, we don’t get to rest just yet. Rachel has her first softball practice tonight, and we will be volunteering for Special Olympics tomorrow. But that’s okay. The great thing is that when we fall asleep tonight, we’ll dream of all of the great places that we visited on our trip.

My personal favorite was Sea World. I have always been drawn to all manner of marine life, no matter what it is. I loved the shows, and also getting to touch and interact with dolphins has always been one of my life-long dreams. I got to watch the birth of a baby orca, and see the mother and baby get acquainted with each other. I was able to touch sting rays and see swordfish swimming above me. It was an incredible experience.

Disney was definitely one of the coolest spots on the trip. Magic Kingdom was the greatest of the four major parks. The rides were so much fun, and I have now seen the parade in both day and night. It was so neat!

MGM Studios was my second favorite. I was able to ride a great roller coaster, and I was dropped from 13 stories! That’s something that you can’t do every day. I watched some popular Disney Characters come to life, and I even got to draw my own.

Well, I need to go. We need to leave shortly to take Rachel to her practice. I hope that you have enjoyed reading about our adventures. I know that I enjoyed having them!

By Rachel - 3/26/07

Today is our last day in Florida, so we went to Disney Quest, but first we swam in the Windsor Hills pool (the pool at the resort). They have so many things at the pool like an enclosed body slide, sprayers, and dancing waters. We went to the playground and ate dinner, and then we went to Disney Quest located in Downtown Disney. Disney Quest is an arcade, but not just any one. They have FIVE stories. Most of the arcade games are the same, but have a lot of interactive games such as boat rowing, drawing a character, and a Star Wars type thing. We did draw Goofy because it had the closest time. In the boat rowing, you go through time back to the dinosaurs. You even get sprinkled! You go down big waterfalls too. After that, we went to Ghirardelli Chocolate for a free piece of chocolate.

By Amanda - 3/26/07

It is our last day here in the Orlando area…our last day on vacation. Tomorrow, we will drive from Kissimmee back to Greer, SC. We spent the day packing up and swimming in the pool at the resort and playing at the playground. The pool is really neat with a water slide, and there is also a hot tub. We also went to Disney Quest, a five-story interactive arcade! There are not just arcade games here though. You can also learn how to draw some of Disney’s most famous characters. We learned how to draw Goofy. I did okay for the first time.

There was also a jungle raft ride that you paddle. You sit in the raft, and then you are given paddles. You pilot your way through the rainforest, escaping dinosaurs, earthquakes, and whirlpools. It is definitely not your average video game!

We played many of the unique games, and then we went over to Ghirardelli for one last square of chocolate. It was delicious…and a fabulous way to end a fabulous vacation!

By Rachel - 3/25/07

We went to Typhoon Lagoon. They have a wave pool with waves as high as 6 feet tall! We did that 4 times. We went to Shark Reef too. Sis and Dad did it, but I didn’t want to. You could swim with animals like barracudas, Dory, Nurse Sharks, and Manta Rays! We did a lot of slides. One was VERY bumpy. We used the Lazy River for transportation. There is even a boat right on top of a mountain. There were a few disappointing slides, but there were also cool ones! Do not ride the big family tube ride if the line is over 10 minutes. There is definitely not as much to do at Typhoon Lagoon as at Blizzard Beach. I basically named all they have except for the gift shop, but you can’t spend one hour, much less five hours in there.

By Amanda - 3/25/07

Have you ever swum with sharks or stingrays? How about being in a wave pool with five-foot waves? Or, have you eaten a delicious coffee cake with sweet butter on top (for breakfast!)?

Our first stop today was back at Animal Kingdom for our character breakfast. We were able to see Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, and Donald. Mickey informed us that Minnie was sleeping, which is why she was not there. Donald said that Daisy went shopping, which he thinks she does too much! We also had a delicious breakfast buffet. Combine the two, and you have yourself a great beginning to your day!

Mom then took us to Typhoon Lagoon and dropped off Dad, Rachel, and me. This is the other Disney water park which my parents visited when they were here 15 years ago and with me a little over 10 years ago…but I didn’t remember it. It has a wave pool that shoots out 6-foot waves. It also has a place called Shark Reef where you can swim with sharks, stingrays, and all kinds of exotic fish. It was very neat to swim with these creatures, but they stayed near the bottom. Therefore, you couldn’t touch “Dory”, the Blue Tang.

This park also has many different water slides, as well as a water roller coaster. The wave pool was my favorite, however. How many times in the ocean do you catch a 6-foot wave?

When we came back to the townhouse, we relaxed for awhile, and then headed to Downtown Disney to look for souvenirs. Downtown Disney is a large collection of shops and restaurants. I got a really nice Mickey Mouse zip-up sweatshirt. You also don’t have to buy anything in order to have fun there. There are toy stores, free entertainment, and FREE Ghirardelli chocolate, just like at the Ghirardelli shop in San Francisco! That alone is enough to make it a great night for anyone!

By Rachel - 3/24/07

We have entered the last main park of Disney, and it was the last built. This park is Animal Kingdom. The first thing we did was get Fast Pass for Expedition Everest, and then we went to Kali River Rapids. But it doesn’t open until 9:30, so we waited for 20 minutes. While we were waiting, we looked at the monkeys. There was even a baby! The ride gets you wet for sure while you do stuff like go down the rapid river, go down a small waterfall, and go under a small waterfall! We went to Expedition Everest after that. During it, you go backwards, get attacked by an abominable snow monster, go down an 80 degree drop, and get to the end of the track. We rode it two times! By the way, if you couldn’t tell, it was a roller coaster.

After that, we did Fast Pass for Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama. While we were waiting to use them, we went to Asia. In Asia, we went on a walking path full of animals. Then we went on the roller coaster. On it, you swirl, go down hills, and get yaaaaannnnnkkkkkkeddddd around! Then we did the African walking path. After that, we got Fast Passes for the Jungle Safari. There is also a show for the “Lion King” but the show was still going on, so we went to Camp Minnie-Mickey. There are many characters there such as Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald. We got their autographs and their pictures. Then we went to the Lion King show. It starts out with the floats coming out with Timon and Pumba and Simba. During the show, there are some acrobats, and Timon, and more Timon!

Then we went to visit Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore. There was also going to be a parade, so we were going to watch a little bit of that. We also looked in the gift shop and headed back to the townhouse. We went to Ponderosa and then headed to Downtown Disney. There are so many gift shops and everything! We like to look around in the shops so we visited Ghirardelli, Lego, and regular Disney gift shops, a magnet shop, Pin Trader, and the BEST toy store!

By Amanda - 3/24/07

We spent the day at the last of the major Disney Parks, Animal Kingdom. This park doesn’t have as many rides as the others do, but it has neat walking trails with animal exhibits. Some of the most interesting animals were the okapi, the gibbons, and the African Buffalo. Okapi are antelope-like animals, but they are taller and more thickly built. They are rich, reddish-brown in color with stripes on their backs and rear legs. They look like a zebra and a large antelope collided! Also, gibbons are a type of primate, about the size of a chimpanzee.

We grabbed a Fast pass for Expedition Everest, the most popular attraction in the park. We actually got to ride it twice because our photo that they take as you’re coming down the hill was lost. It is a ride themed around Mount Everest and the legendary Yeti. You travel through the mountain searching for the legendary creature. Guess what? The Yeti exists, and he switches the tracks so that your car goes backwards! He also tries to eat you, but you escape just in time. It is definitely one of the more unique roller coasters that I have ridden so far.

We rode a few rides in DinoLand, and then walked along the Asian Path. This is where we saw the Okapi. After we finished there, we boarded a safari bus for a two-week safari on the African grasslands. We saw lions, African Buffalo, wildebeest, Thompson’s Gazelles, giraffes, a male lion, saltwater crocodiles, hippopotamus, and vultures. I’ll say that we saw quite a few animals on that ride. Our two weeks on the plains was cut short however, because we helped the Reserve Manager stop some poachers. The poachers were trying to steal a mother elephant and her calf, which we also saw. It was a great experience being able to see animals that roam free, not just from behind walls or in cages.

We rode a few more rides, visited Camp Minnie-Mickey to see the Lion King show and visit with the characters there. We walked the African Path, and then we went for dinner. Tomorrow is the last major day of our vacation. We are also doing a character breakfast tomorrow morning. Yum!

By Rachel - 3/23/07

We went to one of Disney’s water parks today. The one that we went to was Blizzard Beach. One of the slides has an 80 degree slope. When you go down the steep part and you just barely look down, it looks like you are going straight down! One of the first places we went was Ski Patrol Area which is made for pre-teens. One of the activities there was an ice float walk. The floats were in water and on rope so they’d get away from you but would stop if it got too far. Above you was a rope to hold onto. There were many different slides such as a tunnel slide, body slide, and tube slide.

Another thing that they had was a water zip line. After finished there, we went to Teamboat Springs, a family raft ride. After that, we went on many other slides, but the best one was the one that was a 60 degree slope. There is an area called Tike’s Peak instead of Pike’s Peak, but it was for kids 48 inches and under. So I was finally too tall for something! There were a total of two slides we didn’t ride, and the second one the lady said I was too short, even though I wasn’t. I had measured up all day. If you are over 48 inches without your shoes, you can ride anything, and I am.

That night, we went to Disney Boardwalk, but it really was nothing. There were just a few shops, but mostly restaurants.

By Amanda - 3/23/07

It was a great day to visit Blizzard Beach, one of two Disney water parks. This is a park full of waterslides, a wave pool, and a recreation area. Also, it has a waterslide with an 80 degree drop. It is the steepest water slide in all of Disney, and rightfully named the “Summit Plummet.”

First, we headed to the Ski Patrol, an area geared for 10-15 year olds. There is a water zip line, a swimming pool, water slides, and an ice floe walk. That is the most fun part in the Ski Patrol. There are tethered ice “floes” and you have to walk across them without falling off. The only thing you have to hold onto is a rope net above you. I only fell off once. Of course, my monkey sister didn’t fall off at all!

We decided to do some of the slides before they became too busy. Our first stop was Teamboat Springs, a family raft ride. This is really fun because your raft goes really high up the sides of the slide. You also make a large splash once you reach the bottom.

We rode a few more slides, and then we went back to the Ski Patrol area for awhile so we could take some pictures. Then we decided to go down Summit Plummet. It was definitely worth the wait. When you reach the bottom, there is a sign that tracks your speed. The slowest speed that I saw was 50 mph. Most people were going about 60!

After riding almost everything in the park, we called it a day. If you ever need to burn off some energy, spend the day at Blizzard Beach. I guarantee that you’ll be tired at the end of the day.

By Rachel - 3/22/07

Today we went to Daytona US, home of the Daytona 500, the Rolex 24, and the Pepsi 400. The first and last races are NASCAR races. The Daytona 500 is the first race of the season. The Rolex 24 is a 24 hour race that is a road race in the Daytona infield. Last, but not least, the Pepsi 400 is another NASCAR race held in July. In the museum, there is the Daytona 500 winning car for that year. This year, there was the dreaded Kevin Harvick car, #29. The man that made NASCAR and the Daytona Speedway happen was Big Bill France. In 1957, his dreams came true when the first Daytona 500 race happened.

The first two winners of that race were Lee Petty and Junior Johnson. Lee Petty was the first one to win it. He is also the father of Richard Petty, also know as “The King”. He got his name by winning 200 races, 7 Winston Cups, 7 Daytona 500 wins, and 9 most Popular Driver awards. Richard’s son Kyle Petty started Victory Junction Gang Camp, which is a place to go for kids who have serious illnesses. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was another great racer at Daytona. He got the nickname “The Intimidator” from his accomplishments such as these: Winning the Daytona 500 more than once, 1979 Rookie of the Year; 7 Winston Cup Championship titles; Most Popular Driver award; and over 130 wins! But he lost his life in Turn 4 of the 2001 Daytona 500 race. His son is the great Dale Jr. He has many great accomplishments also such as: 17 wins; 110 top-ten finishes; winning the Daytona 500; 6 pole positions; 2000 Rookie of the Year; and finishing as high as 3rd in the points. He is definitely a popular driver with lots of fans (including me!).

As you can see, there are drivers that do well at the track, and some don’t. The museum has things to do in it such as an Imax movie, Dream Laps, NASCAR motion simulator, 16 Second Pit Crew Challenge, and tours. The IMAX theater movie was in 3-D. In the movie, it tells you about many different things about Daytona. After the movie, we looked around some more, and then we went on our tour of the track. Daytona Super Speedway in the turns has 33 degree banking that is really steep. Wow! Our tour guide told us all about the buildings and other stuff. One more thing…if you want to go up on the banking, you will have to go over 100 miles an hour! During the tour, we went to Gatorade Victory Lane! There are small sets of bleachers in it too.

When we got back, we went to Acceleration Alley, which is a NASCAR Simulator. Dad and I were #5, Kyle Busch! But we finished 16th. Then we went to Dream Laps. Dream Laps is also a simulator, but not as intense. We looked in the gift shop and then left.

We went to see a lighthouse near Daytona Beach, and then drove out and parked on the beach for a little while to take some pictures. It was a fun day.

By Amanda - 3/22/07

Daytona…the greatest of all speedways and home of The Great American Race. We visited this historic track today and saw where some of NASCAR’s closest finishes have occurred, and also some of its lowest moments.

Daytona International Speedway has a large visitor center/museum, which we went to first. It is called Daytona USA. Some of the highlights of this interactive museum are: the most recent Daytona 500 winner’s car, the Wall of Champions, a 1-hour video, Dream Laps, Acceleration Alley, and a track tour.

This year’s Daytona 500 winner was Kevin Harvick, driver of the #29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet. HE edged out veteran Mark Martin by a mere .02 seconds, the second closet victory margin in NASCAR history. The car on display still had the victory lane confetti on it!

The Wall of Champions is a collection of commemorative plaques which celebrate the winners of all major Daytona races such as the Daytona 500, the Pepsi 400, Rolex 24, Gatorade Duels, and the Budweiser Shootout. For those of you who are not racing fans, I’ll explain each of these. Both the Daytona 500 and the Pepsi 400 are major NASCAR Cup Series races. The Rolex 24 is a 24-hour race. Both of the Gatorade Duels are races that determine some of the final Daytona 500 spots. The Budweiser Shootout is a 70-lap race at the beginning of each season which contains all of the drivers from the previous who qualified in the first position (or Pole Position) for a race. All of these and more are races held at Daytona International Speedway.

The video was very neat to watch, because the last half-hour of it was in 3-D. It showed some of the 500’s most legendary winners, some highlights from past races, and the most memorable moments. Names like Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, and Cale Yarborough popped up all the time. Both Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty won this prestigious race seven times. They had some major bragging rights! Racing also lost one of it’s legends during a last-lap crash during the 2001 Daytona 500. Dale Earnhardt spun after the checkered flat, and took a hard hit into the wall. His neck snapped from the impact. He never emerged from his car.

After we finished at the museum, we took a tour of the track. We saw places like Victory Lane, the start/finish line, and we also got to see the high banks of Daytona. They are banked at 31 degrees! If a car isn’t going 70 miles per hour while entering Turn 1, it will roll over. Yikes!

We then headed to Acceleration Alley, a racing simulator. You sit inside a car and drive it just like a NASCAR driver. You even flip the acceleration switch in order to start the car. It was a fun end to our Speedway visit.

We left Daytona International Speedway and went the short drive out to the coast and visited the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, and then drove down on the beach. It was neat to drive on & park right on the beach. It’s so flat and compacted. We walked around for a little while and took some pictures, and then made the drive back to the Orlando area. What a fun day!

By Rachel - 3/21/07

Today we went to the most famous Disney park of all…Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom is home of Cinderella’s Castle. Before you enter the park, you have to take the monorail. Well, while we were on it, the one in front of us broke down, so we had to wait about 20 minutes before we could move again. When we finally got in, it was 9:30. In front of Disney, there are all sorts of characters such as Chip and Dale. Can you tell the difference between the two? Well, Dale has a round red nose and Chip’s nose is black. Some more characters were Horris and Clarabelle Cow.

We headed right over to get a Fast Pass for Space Mountain which is a roller coaster, but it was broken. While we were waiting for it to get fixed, we went on Buzz Light year Star Command. That ride is like a moving arcade shooting gallery. Then 1 ½ hours later, Space Mountain was open so we got a Fast pass for it. We did the Country Bear Jamboree (this is one of Grandpa’s favorites), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, and I think that was all until we used our Fast Passes. Space Mountain was a pretty thrilly ride.

After that, we waited in line for a LONG time for a not-so-great ride, Splash Mountain. Then we rode the MOST ANNOYING ride in the history of annoying rides, It’s a Small World. “It’s a small world after all; it’s a small world after all, blah, blah, blah. And on top of that, Mom sang. But this is funny…try to picture this sound in your head…Grandpa singing on that ride. Woo, thank goodness that was over!

There is something called Mickey’s Toon Town Fair, which has a lot of the characters such as Chip and Dale, Pluto, Minnie, Donald, and Mickey. Did I get them all??? I think so. There is also a ride called the Barnstormer, which is a small roller coaster, kind of like the older kid’s version of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, another roller coaster in Magic Kingdom. The Barnstormer stays true to its name. It is a barn stormer…actually in Goofy’s barn. Goofy’s plane crashed into the barn. Of course, what do you expect from a dog who wears his belt buckle upside down? There are two houses…Mickey’s and Minnie’s. Minnie’s is all open and you’re able to touch, but Mickey’s has ropes across the doors of each room. But across from his garden, there is the Judge’s Tent which ahs the judge in it, and the judge is Mickey. There is a gift shop near there, and there are lines that you can get in to see different characters. We went in every line except the princess line. The characters that were in there were Chip, Dale, Pluto, Minnie, and Donald Duck.

When we go their autographs, Pluto and Donald had to put the paper on their noses so they could see. LOL (Laugh Out Loud). Did you know that the princess line was the longest one of all three of the lines? Before we left to go find a place to watch the parade, we went on Pirates of the Caribbean which is based off of that movie. On your ride, you go down a waterfall, through a pirate battle, and more.

Then we went to watch the parade. There were a lot of cool floats and a lot of Disney characters included. After that, we moved across the street for fireworks over Cinderella’s Castle. Before it started, we ran into some homeschooling friends. Those friends are the Browns, and they also run the co-op that Sis goes to. During the fireworks, Tinkerbell flew in the sky coming down from the Castle. After that, all we had to do was find a souvenir penny machine and get back to the townhouse to sleep. It was a long, tiring, but fun day!

By Amanda - 3/21/07

We spent today touring the most magical of all Disney parks…Magic Kingdom. I was here 10 years ago, and a lot has changed since the last time. Many of the rides and attractions are different…at least from what I remember.

Our attraction strategy was similar to Epcot. We rode some of the more popular rides first, which were Space Mountain and Indy Tomorrowland Speedway. We arrived at Space Mountain first, but it was closed temporarily for repairs. Instead, we opted to ride Buzz Lighyear of Star Command. This is a life-size shooting gallery. You hit enemy invaders as you ride through the sea of targets. We all rode this, even Grandpa. My score was 34,500, only surpassed by Mom’s 43,000.

After we finished at Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain was still closed. We got in line for Indy Tomorrowland Speedway. This is sort of like the antique cars, except you are able to steer and gas your vehicle.

Finally, Space Mountain was open and we got in the Fastpass line. It wasn’t long before we were zipping through sudden turns in pitch darkness. It is great for younger kids because it doesn’t reach 50 mph.

We then headed to the other side of the park, picking up Pooh Bear and Tigger’s autographs along the way.

We were forced to take a ride on “It’s a Small World,” because Mom and Grandpa like it. Rachel and I can’t stand it because the song gets stuck in your head for the rest of the day. It’s terrible!

Grandpa loves the Country Bears, so we decided to do the Country Bear Jamboree. This is a show where the Country Bears sing, dance, and talk. There are also talking animal heads who comment throughout the show.

We then decided to get a Fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a train-style roller coaster. We then spent the next hour waiting in line for Splash Mountain, a water ride. It tells the story of Brer Rabbit being chased by Brer Fox and Brer Bear. It shows how he escapes them, and learns that he belongs in the briar patch.

After getting a little wet, we dried ourselves by riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It is a rollercoaster with cars modeled after trains. You travel through Wild West scenery at 45 miles an hour. What a way to see the desert!

When you ride a bunch of rides, you get hungry! We ate at the Columbia Harbour House and had a great supper of fish, chicken tenders, and French fries. We also had a soft pretzel for a snack.

We then headed to Mickey’s Toontown Fair. This section of the park contains many of the Disney characters, so you can get lots of autographs and pictures. We got Minnie, Mickey, Donald, Pluto, Chip, and Dale here. We missed Daisy; Donald said she was out shopping. When I was here the last time, she was swimming. She is the only major Disney character that I have never seen.

While we were in Toontown, we also went through Minnie and Mickey’s houses. Then we saw what Goofy does in his spare time…crashing planes into the side of water towers. This is the idea behind the Barnstormer rollercoaster. You ride through Goofy’s water tower to see how he wrecked his plane.

After that, we had to get our spots for the parade. It was really neat to watch the parade at night, because Tinkerbell flies down from Cinderella’s Castle. The castle is also illuminated, so it made the parade all the more interesting. It turns out, Suzanne Brown and her family were standing near us during the parade, so we visited with them for a few minutes when it was over.

Soon after the ending of the parade, the fireworks began. There were some really neat bursts. My favorites were blue stars with white dots in the center. The fireworks were the perfect ending to a perfect day.

By Rachel - 3/20/07

We went to Disney’s MGM Studios today, home of the Tower of Terror. We got a Fast Pass for this ride, and then went to get in line for Rockin’ Rollercoaster. While we were waiting in line to board, we got to see a projection of a famous rock band. When they say go, they mean it! During the ride, you experience VERY sharp turns, speeds as high as 60 mph, and you go upside down three times!!! Now that is a thrill ride! On top of that, Grandpa rode it with us, but he said never again. Mom said the same thing, but Dad didn’t mind it and Sis and I thought it was great! When we came out of the gift shop, it was raining.

We still had about 20 minutes until we could use our Fast Pass for Tower of Terror, so we found a place for Grandpa to stand and wait under roof so he wouldn’t get wet. When it was finally 12:45, we went to Tower of Terror. I would like to thank our “hair lady”, Mrs. Donna, for making Mom go on it! She had made mom promise that if we went to MGM, she would ride it with us. Mom didn’t have a choice. On the ride, you go in a haunted hotel, the Twilight Zone also known as the Hollywood Hotel. While you go up a short distance, it shows you the five people that stepped into the hotel elevator and never returned. You are brought up 13 levels, and then the cable to the elevator snaps. Hee-hee…VERY FUNNY! You are dropped swiftly down four or so levels and then again, and again, and then you are dropped the whole 13 levels. Once we were done with those two rides, we went to Muppet Vision 3-D. On our way there, we saw Herbie (the car) and had or picture taken. After the movie, we went to Honey I shrunk the Kids video set (not really), but it was closed because of rain. Before we left, we met Sorcerer Mickey Mouse and had our pictures taken and got his autograph.