planes, trains & automobiles (and ferries, subways, buses...well, you get the picture): Goodbye Disney World!

July 21, 2014

Brigham Young's hearse?

Pretty much a carbon copy start to the day at Magic Kingdom as Saturday. We got there early and hit quite a few rides before it became too crowded. Oh yeah, maybe it wasn’t quite the same because before that we had to pack up and haul all of luggage over to the storage room so we could check out before going to the park. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds. The resort was very nice, but it was big and spread out, and we weren’t that close to the main building. In the humidity, we definitely had worked up a sweat before even getting to Disney World. I finally got to Peter Pan, my childhood favorite, and we rode Haunted Mansion a couple more times, my current favorite Disney rides – I’m sure some of the roller coasters were higher on my list at some point, but now Alex and Katie can keep them.

We even saw a couple of shows – one for nostalgia and one because I was duty bound as a history teacher. The Hall of Presidents was excellent, and I even think the kids appreciated it. The Country Bear Jamboree was even hokier than I remember it from when it used to be an attraction at Disneyland, and my sophisticated children (and wife) mocked it incessantly.

We stayed until just after 4, and then we just beat the rain back to our hotel where we retrieved our luggage. Before we had left on the trip, I sent an email responding to an add I had seen for an Orlando taxi service on the Internet. I wanted to make sure we had a big enough taxi for all five of us and our luggage. An unshaven Russian guy met us in front of the lobby in a silver minivan that was not marked in any way as a taxi. He had to move a few things around and clean out the van a bit, but he fit us in. I have to admit that I had the maps app on my phone on to check to make sure we were headed in the right direction. He was a great guy, and we talked the whole way to our Universal hotel. When he found we were Mormon, he told me about the temple in Orlando and asked my about the whole polygamy thing. If anyone needs a taxi in Orlando, let me know and I’ll give you his number.

So we got checked in and situated in the hotel and grabbed some dinner. It rained pretty hard for a while in the afternoon and then kind of steady into the evening so it was a good day to be out of the parks. Tomorrow is Universal, and I can tell that Alex especially is excited for the Harry Potter adventure to begin.