The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - Disney Blog Hop

It's Thursday, and that means Disney Blog Hop!!  Thanks again to Lisa at Babes In Disneyland for hosting the Disney Blog Hop each week.  By the way, if you're the parent of a young child and haven't bought her yet book I highly recommend it (you can find info on her site). Now on to today's post.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
We are going to take a trip back in time today, we are going back to January 2003. It was cold, record breaking cold and the Anderson family was taking their first ever trip to Walt Disney World. But they weren't going alone, they were traveling with a family who we shall call the Smith family (names have been changed to protect the innocent and not so innocent). You see, Michael Anderson was friends with Mr. Smith, but the rest of the Anderson family didn't know any of the Smith family, and Mr. Smith managed to invite his family along on the Anderson family vacation.  Plans were finalized and we began our journey.

I had never been to Disney World before, so you can imagine my excitement when I saw the Welcome To Walt Disney World sign for the first time!  This was definitely the good, actually the great.  I was on the edge of my seat just taking it all in, my heart was racing.  We went to check in at Wilderness Lodge, again beyond my expectations the lobby was amazing. My first impressions of Disney were amazing.  Our rooms weren't ready yet so we were given our Keys To The World and sent on our way, we had ADR's in Epcot at The Garden Grill. The food was good, we got to meet Chip and Dale our first characters at Disney World! Mike and I even had the pumpkin cheesecake for dessert (this is important). After lunch we all went to explore the park. 

Ashley, and the Smiths decided they wanted to ride Rockin Roller Coaster, Mike and I aren't big roller coaster people so we waited with Dakota while they rode. We both were getting kind of tired and decided to go back to the resort and see if the room was ready, Ashley was going to hang out and ride some more with the Smith's and their kids. While we were waiting at the bus stop, Mike and I gave each other the look, you know the look like "I don't know if I am going to make it to the bathroom in time". Yep, I think the cheesecake may have been out a little too long or something.  The bus took FOREVER to get to the Wilderness Lodge, and thank goodness our room was ready. We were both sick, and it was a choice as to which end you were going to be sick from first if you get my meaning.  Our first day at Disney was not very pretty, in fact you could say it was UGLY, very UGLY!!  We didn't leave the room until the next morning.

The next day was better and we spent the day at Magic Kingdom.  Walking down Main Street USA for the first time is very magical, and seeing Cinderella Castle for the first time is indescribable. We had breakfast at Crystal Palace with more characters to meet, Dakota was a huge Tigger fan at the time so that was very good. Now for the bad, the Smith children fought over who was going to hold my hand and who was going to get to ride with Mike and where we were going next. And Mr. Smith didn't like any of the plans I had made or the ADR's I had made. So he simply decided we were not going to do them, and he basically ignored his wife, who I think said about five words to me. It was just uncomfortable. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to do and I felt obligated to entertain them, and this was my first ever trip to Disney!! 

The third day at Animal Kingdom was fun and reasonably uneventful all things considered.  Now for the really UGLY!  Our last morning there we decided to return to Magic Kingdom to see some things we had missed.  Mr. Smith wanted to get some Fastpasses to Space Mountain or something and Ashley was feeling a little sick so I took her to a bathroom.  My poor husband was left with Mrs. Smith and the two Smith Children to ride It's A Small World.  If you have ever ridden this ride you know the que to get on is winding, almost like herding cattle. Let's face it people have a Love/Hate relationship with this ride anyway, I personally tend to lean toward the hate side, I think it's kind of creepy.  Mike is waiting in line with Mrs. Smith, the Smith children are between them, these children break out into an all out brawl, fists flying, hair pulling, kicking, screaming, free-for-all. Everyone in line for the ride has stopped moving and has turned to watch the show, Mike thought they were about to pull out their wallets and bet on whether the son or daughter were going to win, and Mrs. Smith is just standing there watching, so Mike has to break it up. He said all he could think was "These people think these are my kids."  As soon as he got off of the ride and found us we split up from the Smith family and told them Ashley wasn't feeling well and we were going to head home.

We all look back on our adventure and laugh now, and as I plan our July trip I have definitely learned two things: 1. Go alone. 2. No Pumpkin Cheesecake. 
*The pictures used on my post today came directly from the Walt Disney World website.

Reasons I Love Disney World A-Z..."I"

"I"
Iago (Aladdin) - This parrot was loud and kind of obnoxious but really funny.
It's A Small World - I don't believe this could possibly be anyone's favorite ride, but it is a Disney World icon. It has to be on the list.
IllumiNations - During our last trip, Mike & I both got sick on the day of our arrival. That was the night we had our reserved spot to view the fireworks at EPCOT. Hopefully some eight and a half years later I will finally get to see IllumiNations. Ash & Dakota got to see them and from their descriptions it will be worth the wait. 
Italy Pavilion - As I have said before I am really looking forward to visiting the World Showcase.
Imagineers - I love that this is what Disney calls the engineers that create all the fun stuff we get to do while we are there. It's just a cool name.
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular - OK ,I have to admit I have a crush on Indy. One of my FAVORITE movies ever Raiders of the Lost Ark. Just because it's based on this character it has to be on this list, period.
It's Tough to be a Bug! - Based on A Bug's Life, we saw this last time we were at Disney. I love the extras with the wind in your face and the 3-D effects and you can feel the bug get you in the back of your seat. And it's inside the Tree of Life, you can't go wrong with that.