last weekend phillip and i took a barely hour-long flight south to visit our friends kyle and lisa in orlando, fl. they’ve been there for a couple of years now and our trip was long overdue, so with some handy delta skymiles and some pto, off we were!
friday started out with a bit of sleeping in, some bagels, large mugs of coffee, and a little catching up. i’ve known kyle and lisa since our days at uga, and it’s always fun to reminisce on what was but even better to hear about adult life and what’s going on these days. i personally think some of the best friendships are the ones where you can fall right back into conversation, no matter how much time has passed, and that is much of how our weekend went.
kyle (a middle school band teacher) had to work that day, so after lisa, phillip, and i freshened up, we made our way to the happiest place on earth and started out at magic kingdom. neither phillip or i have been to disney world since we were kids, so it was as though we were seeing everything for the first time. and, if i am being honest, i almost had more fun all weekend watching phillip because it was like he was a carefree kid again, and it made me smile from ear to ear. 🙂
we swiped our passes, took a few steps, and were in the middle of it all with everyone else right there on main street. the bright blue skies and puffy white clouds made for quite an entrance, as did google photos for making a good picture even better.
we even were lucky enough to be greeted by an energetic, fabulous character parade!
but you know what put it all over the top? the fact that the whole park was decorated for the fall season. i about died from a cuteness overload when i saw this autumn-themed mickey.
now, lisa had us all set with some fast passes at some quintessential attractions, and we started things off with the classic pirates of the caribbean ride. with the hot florida sun beating down on us, it was a great idea to be inside the cool attraction, watching as jack sparrow snuck from one scene to the next. and, because we’re all kids at heart, we got our yo-ho on as well. aarh, matey!
next up was, yes, it’s a small world after all. i’d imagine it’s law that you can’t go to magic kingdom without riding this ride, and i mean it when i say it was just as charming (and repetitive, lol) as i recall.
now, our next stop was the haunted mansion, and i myself have zero recollection of this ride at all. phillip and lisa were a bit aghast, but i’m guessing that when we went as a family, mom and dad probably thought it would be too spooky for us kids, and i wouldn’t have a hard time believing it at all. regardless, all that matters is that we rode it this time when we were there, and i actually thought it was quite wonderful! i loved all the animations and special effects and was giggling beside lisa throughout the entire ride. honestly, as we exited the mansion i couldn’t stop telling everyone how thoroughly i enjoyed it. the day we have kids who are ready for the haunted mansion experience, you better believe i’ll be dragging them through myself!
kelsey v 