On October 1, 1999, J.P. and I got engaged in Orlando (But not on Disney property! I'm not sure why that distinction is important, but it is.). Disney World is just about his favorite place on earth, and he would go there for every vacation if he could. Now I like the Mouse just fine, but come on—every year? So I instituted and he agreed to the Five Year Plan. We would go to WDW no more often than every five years.

A few weeks ago we had our sixth wedding anniversary. Last night we returned home from the third trip since we got married. Today he was searching the internet to learn more about the Disney Vacation Club (timeshare). See how well this is working out for me?

I don't think we'll be buying a timeshare anytime soon, but we did have fun this week. We went with J.P.'s mom, his big brother and wife, and their three boys (17, and 14-year-old twins), and we rented one of the timeshare units. It was a two-bedroom, two-bath unit, and it was really nice.

Because a lot of schools were on spring break last week I expected huge crowds, long lines, and lots of meltdowns among our fellow park visitors. There was some of that, but we largely managed to avoid it. All the extra people meant that the parks stayed open later for Disney resort guests, and boy did we take advantage of it.



The shot above was taken at the Magic Kingdom at 2:06 AM. The park was open until 3:00, and it was awesome—we basically walked onto every ride with no line. But the part that surprised me was that the characters were out at 2:00! Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale, Goofy . . . the whole bunch.

Over the course of four days, we hit all of the big rides in every park . . . Mission Space and Soarin' at EPCOT, Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror at MGM, Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, and Expedition Everest and the safari ride at Animal Kingdom.

We also had a great time as a family. J.P.'s mom turns 70 on Tuesday, so we had a celebration dinner at the teppanyaki restaurant in EPCOT's Japan on Friday night. They brought her a chef's hat to wear while she blew out the candle on her ginger cake. Then J.P.'s older brother D. wore the hat for the rest of the night as we walked around Magic Kingdom.

As much fun as it was, I'm glad to be home. You know you're getting old when you're daydreaming about sleeping in your own bed while standing in line to ride Mission Space.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 23, 2006 at 11:48 PM.