It has been so hard for me to focus on work after coming home from a long trip… and this all started out from the Disney intro’s before their movies begin. You know the one that I am talking about? There is a little river that leads to a castle with fireworks in the background and the song “when you wish upon a star” is playing.
Because my son is obsessed with Buzz Lightyear and watches Toy Story every night, and because the Disney logo is displayed before the movie, we somehow promised him that we would take him to visit Mickey and his friends in Disney World some day. So every night the movie plays, and every time the Disney logo goes on before the movie, my son would scream out “We’re going to go to Disney World for my birthday!”. So now we really had to take him. For his birthday.
No way in hell were we going to fly with an almost 3 year old boy and 1 year old girl. The last time we did that, my son screamed for 4 hours straight on the way to Las Vegas. We decided to make it a road trip with multiple stops along the way to make it easier for the kids. Our first destination was Metropolis, Illinois (6.5 hours away). We always wanted to see the huge Superman statue, and the museum they had in the little city.
To give you a better idea on how large the statue was… here we are, throwing the kids around and making them fly.
The kids posing in Superman’s Phone Booth:
After spending a couple hours in Metropolis, we then headed to Chattanooga, Tennessee to spend the night. I started getting dizzy from all the mountain driving, so we were glad to be resting in a nice hotel.
The next day as we drove towards Orlando, I could feel the temperature and humidity rise. It gave me a slight idea of how the weather was going to play for our time in Florida. It was hot! I’m not sure what kind of tree this is, but I thought it was beautiful in the setting sun. Taken at one of the Rest Areas in Florida:
It was great timing when we arrived in Orlando, Florida… just in time for all the fireworks displays going off. The kids screamed in excitement as we got to watch all the fireworks from all the parks. What a beautiful sight to see!
We checked into our Condo and my sister and I went out to a nearby Dominos Pizza to pick up some grub and bring back to the place. They had a bar nearby and the music playing was Bob Marley’s “Satisfy my Soul”. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves there, and I can remember feeling the same exact way.
Taken from the Ferry Boat ride to The Magic Kingdom.
The next day we headed out to The Magic Kingdom. One of my greatest memories as a child was riding the Ferry boat towards the attraction park. It felt like a completely different fantasy world taking that boat to the entrance. I was happy to provide this same experience to my children. The excitement in my son’s eyes was unexplainable. … and it was his Birthday. Happy Birthday to my three year old son!
It was so hot and humid, imagine 99 degrees in the humid Florida weather! After going on numerous rides and meeting a slew of Disney characters, the kids were knocked out.
We watched the Light Parade and stayed until the fireworks went off before heading back to our condo. Here is a shot of the castle illuminated by lights. Looks fake, doesn’t it!?
The next morning, we sang happy birthday to Kaiden before heading out to Universal Studios.
During this day, and the next few days… I planned to not take my DSLR camera with me to the parks, and to just enjoy the days. It was too hot and too humid to be carrying around my gear. My camera felt like it weighed 10 pounds in the heat and humidity. So the only camera we had was my little point and shoot camera. After visiting all the parks, I think Animal Kingdom was my favorite. We went on a Safari and was 2 feet away from a Gray Rhino! I could have reached out to touch him if I wanted too. That’s when the regret of not bringing my DSLR sunk in.
Our Florida time came to an end after a few days, and we had to head back to Chattanooga, TN. Since we arrived early, we decided to visit Coolidge Park. It had been 8 years since my wife and I visited downtown Chattanooga, so we decided to take the kids out for a play day.
The rest of the drive home wasn’t bad. I did have an incident where I thought I was driving downhill for 2 straight hours, but that is a whole other story. Let’s just say the pressure changes during mountain driving screwed up my equilibrium for a moment.
Overall, the trip was a success. My son got his wish, and even though he is only 3 years old, he may not remember it. BUT… I HAVE THE PHOTOS TO PROVE WE TOOK THEM THERE!
