Disney!

I grew up two hours from Disney.  I'm not sure how many times I've been, but a lot.  As a kid I didn't realize how lucky I was.  I've been wanting to take Grace to Disney World for a while, but I didn't want to take Jake.  Matt didn't really want to go either.  It's very expensive, there are lots of people and long lines.  I guess I wasn't sure I wanted to go either, especially when having a great time at the beach for free is the alternative.  I decided she's at a great age to go and I'm not sure when we'd be back so I better take her while I have the chance.  I just wished it didn't have to be over spring break, one of the busiest times for Disney.

I spent a lot of time on the internet learning how best to use Fastpasses so we wouldn't spend half the day in line.  I'm glad I did, because we got to go on a lot of rides.  We had to get up at 5am but it was worth it to get there early, we had a great time.  It was one of those days where everything just seemed to be going our way.  As soon as we walked in the park, we were offered a ride on an old time car (while everyone else was walking).  It was pretty cool to have a private ride right to the castle.  I was also able to skip the line on to the teacup ride and as I was standing in a long line for Thunder Mountain Fastpasses, someone just gave me theirs!  Overall, it was a great day!!!

Here's our special ride down Main Street.  There were some people around early, but wait until you see the crowds later.

We went on the Haunted House (our first ride), It's a Small World, the new Ariel ride (Journey under the sea) and then headed to the Tomorrowland Speedway.  The race cars were not as fun or as fast as I remember, but Grace liked it.  She lost her hat on this ride, which I thought we'd never see again.  But since, it was our lucky day, someone brought it to us after we got off the ride.

Next was Dumbo and the Teacups.  Grace and my dad were going to ride the Teacups while I went to get Space Mountain fastpasses.  I was headed back to meet them and saw they were first in line.  I was standing outside the gate to take pictures of them on the ride when a ride worker opened a secret gate right in front of me to let some other people on.  I asked if I could jump in with my daughter and she said sure!!!   

The Barnstormer kid roller coaster was next.  Grace wanted to ride by herself, so my Dad and I squished into the car in front of her.

We rode Peter pan and ate an early lunch at 10:30am.  Then we rode Pirates of the Carribean, went on Tom Sawyers Island, rode Thunder Mountain (with Fastpasses someone gave us) and watched a parade.  We were also lucky in getting a great spot for the parade.  Grace sat on the ground and watched while eating a frozen lemonade.

The standby line for Space Mountain was two hours long, but with a Fastpass, we walked right on.  It was not as fun as I remember.  I seriously thought I was going to get whiplash.  Thunder Mountain was much better.

The crowds kept building and by noon, it seemed like a sea of people.

Most rides had really long lines, so we did the Hall of Presidents, walked through the Swiss Family Robison Treehouse and rode the People Mover (all with no lines).

It was finally time to use our last fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear.  It was a new ride for me and now one of my favorites.  Each car has a joystick so you can make your car spin around while shooting lasers at targets throughout the ride!

By 3:30pm we'd all done enough and were ready to head home.