Phelan/Niemann Vacationfest 2013 in retrospect - Day 2

sorceror thing

chef mickey

And we are off to Disneyworld.  Early morning wake up so we could drive 90 minutes to Disneyworld to get there in time for the park to open.  This was also our first day to meet David, Andrew, and Shari, maybe the only 3 people we know brave enough to try and keep up with us.

Day 1 is a Magic Kingdom day and it was a blast.  We all met up outside the gate 10 minutes before park opening to begin a madcap day of pinging around the park to hit every big ride multiple times with minimal waiting.  This is when it greatly pays off to homeschool (and hit the low attendance times in the park) and to know the park ins and outs thanks to previous employment.  No waits, no lines, maximal riding.

Favorite rides?  Kate and Drew were Space Mountain.  Ben was Big Thunder Mountain.  And, thanks to ever growing children, they all get to ride things before their peers.  By the time we go again, it's a good bet they will all be tall enough for everything.

Ben's first ride was Big Thunder Mountain and he freaked out on the way up to it from fear.  But, we got him through that and he was great the rest of the week.  He just needed the first speed ride out of the way.  We call it "Beast Mode", basically when he outdoes his age and does awesome things. 

Met a few characters.  Dale acted like he licked their pens and then gave them back.  Ben picked up multiple scraped news trying to pick flowers for Sherri on Main St.  The entire day was viewed as Drew's birthday day so he wore his special pen, got lots of birthday wishes and had a grand old time.  We also spent some time on Sorceror's Quest, sort of a technological treasure hunt throughout the park.

We ate dinner at Chef Mickey's and, thanks to the early start, the kids were out like lights by the time we got back to the hotel at 11PM. 

We spent this vacation at Port Orleans Riverside in adjoining rooms with the Niemann clan.  The kids had a blast with this.

Todays steps were 42,542 or somewhere in the range of 25 miles.  Relaxing!