Walt Disney World
Orlando, FL
Our daughters, Jenny and Julie, decided to bring most of their families to Florida over spring break to visit us. Unfortunately, Marc was unable to join us due to just being in Switzerland taking care of his Dad's estate and Coach Woody (Steven) is in the middle of hockey season. Both were greatly missed.
Since we were so close to Orlando it seemed only logical to meet up there and also visit Disney World. They knew this would be a great opportunity for the grandkids while they are at the perfect age to still enjoy the park and especially for 3yr old Katy who is at that age where she lives her life as a Disney Princess.
This was also the first opportunity for Jenny, Sydney, Evan, and Katy to visit Disney World.
Julie took the initiative to research a place for us all to stay and came up with a fantastic place that would accommodate the entire group of nine. She booked a 4 bedroom 3 bath condo at the Lighthouse Key Resort in Kissimmee. This was a wonderful gated facility with a nice pool and rec center. The condo was huge and came with a full kitchen, laundry, family room, and dining room. The place was a big hit with the grandkids, mostly because of the free Wi-Fi.....
The condo was close to many restaurants and stores and was a short drive to all Disney parks.
Marilyn decided to commemorate the trip by having tee shirts made for everyone signifying this as the first official Aker Family Reunion.
And of course our first meal together required us to get a group photo.
Katy is right behind my head, fast asleep.
Our plan was to visit 4 parks over a 5 day period...and then go home and drop dead ;>)
The first day we headed for Disney Hollywood Studio's. After the short drive, parking, taking a tram to the front gate, going through the security bag check line, and then the line to access the park...we were ready to start the adventure. We walked down to the Fast Pass station by the Rockin' Roller Coaster and quickly realized the Fast Pass system had changed since any of us had been to Disney World. Instead of a paper ticket with a specific time to come back and ride the ride, they are all done online days, weeks, or even months ahead of time. All the Fast Pass tickets had been assigned and no more would be given out that day....and it was only 10 am. Needless to say we learned our lesson and stood a long time in rides that day, but we still managed to hit all the rides everyone wanted to do. That night Jenny and Julie used the Disney app to book our Fast Passes for the next 3 parks and made dinner reservations at a couple of restaurants.... fool me once.
Day 2 was Epcot. Here are a few pictures. The first is a group shot in front of the Akershus Restaurant in Norway.
This last one is from Germany where we had a great lunch and some really good beer.
We had dinner at an outdoor patio restaurant in Mexico and stayed there to see the fireworks show at 9pm. It was a long 12 hours but we had a great time.
The next day we headed to Animal Kingdom. We hit the safari ride first and then hit Dino Land, a Bug's Life, and then had lunch at a very expensive (we found out after the fact) buffet that had multiple Disney characters going from table to table.
The next day we took a day off and relaxed around the condo, the kids went swimming, and then we went to visit Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney). We walked the park and did some shopping and had dinner at T-Rex which is just like the Rain Forest Café but with animated dinosaurs.
The final day was reserved for Magic Kingdom. We all expected this to be the top attraction for the kids, especially Katy. Needless to say she had the experience of her short life and was quite mesmerized by the Disney characters and all the Princesses.
But all the kids had a great time......
It was another long, full day and everyone was exhausted.
The next day we once again went to Disney Springs, had lunch and walked the shops until it was time to head to the airport. Marilyn and I can't thank the girls enough for making this trip happen. It was a grandparents dream.
We are currently doing our RV checklist and getting everything road ready. We begin our trip west next week. Heading out the FL panhandle to Louisiana and then Texas, NM, and then to CO in May. We have plans to meet up with the Kids and Grandkids again in July as we visit Rushmore and Yellowstone. The next year will be quite the adventure for us and we are already booked through to California next October.
I hope you'll all come along for the ride.....
