Orlando - Part 2

The last two days in Orlando were spent at Sea World and the Magic Kingdom. Although Emaline's birthday was the day we would be at Magic Kingdom, Allison had ordered a cake a few days ahead so that we could celebrate Emaline's and Mark's birthday (earlier in the month) while Nancy and Jeff were still in Orlando with us.

I'm sure Mark loved having Cinderella on his birthday cake!

Sea World is one of my favorite theme parks. I absolutely love watching the dolphins and killer whales do their tricks. Besides those two shows, we also saw a sea lion show and The Amazing Pet Show which was, well, amazing. I didn't know you could train cats to do tricks. I mean, I know they are smart enough, but I thought they were too stuck up to do anything on command. In the pet show there were dogs, cats, mice, birds, and a pig. I'm sure I left something out. Along with the shows there were aquariums with sharks, walrus', polar bears, penguins, manta rays, and assorted fish and an octopus. And some roller coasters. I don't know how I got talked into going on Kracken, but as they strapped me in, I was like, "this is going to go upside down, isn't it?" and Laura responded, "uh, yeah.....7 times." It was then I felt like swearing. Kracken's top speed is 65 mph with an almost vertical drop of 144 ft. I had my eyes closed most of the time trying to make the 2 minutes and 7 inversions go as fast as possible without becoming completely nauseated. Every time I tried to open my eyes, all I could see was the track ahead twisting onto its side and that was scarier than just keeping my eyes closed. After it was over the kids kept marvelling on how smooth the ride was, the smoothest roller coaster they had been on. I don't remember whether it was smooth or not. I opted out of the other roller coaster, Manta. Around 5:00 pm we were deciding that it was almost time to leave the park, but maybe those that wanted to ride the roller coasters one more time should do that. It was announced that the rides were shutting down because of lightning. Just then the heavens opened up and the rain began. I have never seen it rain so hard and it did so for 35-40 minutes. We huddled under and roof and watched as people scurried by completely drenched. I always thought those movies where people were in a rainstorm for 2 minutes and were soaked through were such an exaggeration, but now I know different. The water on the walkways were soon 2-3 inches deep. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked so loudly and so quickly that we knew it was really close. Finally after about 40 minutes we ran for the car, but didn't get too wet because by that time the rain was just normal rain. It was kind of nice not to be so hot and sweaty!

The Magic Kingdom was magical indeed.

Becca, David, and Laura

Emaline got to wear a button that said it was her birthday and all the workers wished her happy birthday as we passed by or got on and off rides. Mark had arranged lunch at Cinderella's Table in the castle. This was a huge smash, even for Donovan. I mean, we knew the girls would love it, but who knew Donovan would be so smitten? When we walked in, there was a chance for pictures with Cinderella. The look on Donovan's face when she knelt down and hugged him and then kissed his cheek was priceless.

Emaline, Cinderella, Donovan, Ainsleigh

We were ushered upstairs to the dining area, where one by one, Aurora, Belle, Snow White, and Jasmine came by our table to greet everyone. No one was too old to get a picture with a princess! Laura's favorite princess was always Aurora. She used to make me call her Aurora.

Beauty and the Beast?

The food was really very good, and everyone got wands or swords, too! Becca requested a sword instead of a wand. Hmmm......We did all of the usual rides, but were disappointed that Space Mountain was closed for repairs. Around 4:30 pm we returned to the resort so the kids (and adults!) could take a nap and returned for the evening. It was so much cooler! We saw the light parade and the fireworks, did a few more rides and bought souvenirs. We were really glad to get to bed around midnight. Our family reunion was a smashing success and we were all sad to part company for our 5 different states. All of the kids were so good to be dragged all over but I have to say that Gemma was a champ for being so young. She fell asleep wherever and was cheerful as can be.