This picture is how we feel! LOL   It's 11:02pm and we just got back to our villa...we left this morning at about 8:30am.  We spent the entire day at Aquatica and Sea World and stayed until the bitter end to watch the Sea World fireworks.  It was a long day...and exhausting...and we both got a little more sun than we'd intended....and so we're turning in for the night----so no real update tonight.  But just a teaser/trailer----it was a really great day (even if it does feel like we got run over by a truck! LOL)...and we got everything done we'd hoped.  We had really hoped we could finish 4 parks (both Universal and both Sea World) in two and a half days....and we finished them both in less than two----which means that tomorrow (Sunday) is entirely free day.  We are going to sleep in, get up and relax and then maybe swim or play putt putt golf or both....and I promise a nice blog entry or two tomorrow about our fabulous day today!

One More Thing From Yesterday.....For My Dad

Good morning, readers!  Jason and I are just a bout to start getting ready, grab a quick bit and then head out to Aquatica & Sea World for the day....but I remembered that I had one more picture to post here (you'll have to click on the "read more" below to see it)....this one is special for my Dad.

At Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom they have a ride called "Kali River Rapids" which is a water ride with a circular boat that floats through rapids, bouncing around spinning and getting you all wet. There is a very similar ride at Islands of Adventure called "Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges" (pictured to the left-----we are not in that boat, it's a stock photo of the ride, but you get the idea.

Disney Infidelity...

OK...so we cheated on our one true love (Disney) today...I guess I'd better explain.  While (at least in our opinion), Disney is the BEST thing going in Orlando, it is by no means the only game in town...and some of the other offerings here are also a lot of fun in their own way.  When we come down to Orlando, we typically spend all our time at Disney parks and on Disney property...but this trip decided to shake things up.  We haven't been to the Universal Parks or the Sea World parks since 2005 and 2006...and there are a number of fun things there we wanted to do again....as well as some new things that weren't there the last time we visited these parks (like the Harry Potter stuff and Sea World's new water park, Aquatica).  So, since we'd already been to Disney 4 times in the last 16 months, we decided that maybe this time we'd skip Disney parks (but still stay on resort property since we own two Disney Vacation Club, Disney's version of timeshares, properties and can stay for "free") and do the other parks.  It's blasphemous to true Disney fanatics, I know....but we succumbed to the forbidden fruit....and we had a pretty decent time!   Click "read more" below to hear about our day at the Universal Parks and see a lot of pictures.

Smooth Flight, Smooth Landing---Then It Gets Bumpy!!!

Well, we made it to Orlando safe and sound.  The flight actually was amazing....so smooth and uneventful...and amazing weather.  (Just look at the awesome picture we took out the cabin window!)  Business class flying is awfully nice...so much room and so close to the front of the plane---a girl (or gay man LOL) could sure get used to that!!

We watched the movie "Where The Wild Things Are" on the flight (we had downloaded and saved several movies we wanted to see to help us kill time on planes and in airports, etc.).  Boy....if ever there was a film to make the case for why you should NOT take a 48 page illustrated children's book and turn it into a 2 hour movie...that movie is it.  We just thought it was rotten...but, this isn't a film critic blog....so I digress....

And We're Off....

Well...we're off and the adventure has begun!!  This pic (to the left) is a pic we just took sitting here in the airport with my new phone (which I'm still learning about all its fancy features) that has a fun app called "picsay" that lets you add clipart and stickers and talk bubbles to your pictures....I imagine we could come up with some very fun images during the course of our vacation with that!!

Lanyards & Magnets & Ties...OH MY!!!

OK...so I have a confession.  Jason and I are not just Disney vacationers---we are AVID Disney vacationers and when we know we're going to be going on a Disney vacation, especially a cruise, we jump right in with both feet.  We love to plan and do special little things...and to find other people who do the same.  So back in 2007, the last time we took a huge trip like this, we were very fortunate to have found an online community called the DisBoards (www.disboards.com)---an online discussion site for Disney fans---and Disney cruises have never been the same for us since!

A Packing We Will Go...

So what does it look like to pack for a month-long vacation, you ask?  It looks like a giant mess!! LOL

Seriously, though, traveling for over a month and knowing you can't possibly take everything you would want or need is more than a little stressful---especially when you consider the luggage limits, weight limits, luggage fees and overweight charges...so we tried to be very thoughtful about how we packed for this trip.