Disney Mania

I (apparently) cannot travel to Orlando with my kids without getting the "Disney Itch". This is a condition that many Florida born children of the seventies and early eighties are especially prone to. Symptoms include, but are not limited to:

• Singing Disney songs way too loudly in the car complete with arm waving and dancing that scares other drivers at stoplights
• Collecting brochures and excitedly pointing out Mickey Mouse to your kids who don't understand why you're so excited since Mickey is on TV everyday
• Debating whether or not to "splurge" on $200 of tickets so that you can spend quality time standing in lines for hours with your children
• Staying at Disney World way past your kids' naptimes and praying that they won't have a temper tantrum during the hour long trek back to the car
• Taking your kids into gift shops on the way out of Disney, "just to look", which you know deep in your soul will cause them to "need" everything with Mickey or Pluto stamped on it, i.e. everything in the store!

People most at risk of developing Disney Mania are adults with small children who, as kids themselves were SPOILED with annual passes, birthdays at the park, holidays at Disney, etc. Also at risk are those persons who may have worked for Disney at one time. However, not all former employees will develop Disney Mania (Edward). This condition is also genetic. Parents willingly and excitedly pass Disney Mania on as if its some type of tradition.

Some positive side affects of the disorder include awesome trips to Disney World where your children light up as they walk under the train station. They are further thrilled at seeing grownups acting like children...for example, seeing their Mother skip down Main Street singing "Zip-a-dee-doo-da" at the top of her lungs and high marching back to her car after a long day singing "Its Time to Remember the Magic!"

We had an awesome time! A BIG thank you to Chris and Julia for getting us in!!!

We started at Animal Kingdom and I was a little worried because the kids were not that impressed by it. We all enjoyed the very cool, new Nemo Musical. And I liked taking them to the Bug's Life show. Nolen was on my lap by the end of it! Apparently he doesn't like being sprayed and sneezed on by bugs. But who does really?

Riding the dinosaur ride in Dino-Land USA!

The kids were not impressed with Animal Kingdom. Here we are in front of the Tree of Life.

This is better Mom. A place where we can sit and chill. We got the MK right at 3 o'clock so we stopped and waited for the parade.

Mom, this place is awesome, we get to play Duck-Duck-Donald here...almost like at school. Wait a second...

Max got up and ran without actually being tagged! My little clown!

Look at that face! Either he is really having fun or he is really proud of himself!

I think this was the highlight of their day. We waited in line for 30 minutes to see Mickey!

Nolen had a horrible time. Haha!

Waiting in line to ride Goofy's Barn Stormer roller coaster. The boys loved it and they were so big. They sat together in one car and I sat in a separate car behind them. I'm so glad they have each other to pal around with.

Favorite picture spot (with flash)

No flash

We caught the castle lighting before we left. Mickey, Minnie, the Fairy Godmother and Cinderella all showed up to decide how to decorate the castle. Cinderella chose to decorate it all sparkly like her glass slipper.

What better way to end a day at Disney than with a lollipop??? Nolen was a little whiny when it was time to leave. He wanted to go on four more rides...which would have taken four more hours! They enjoyed picking out a candy from the big candy shop on Main Street. I told them they each had $2 to spend and then gently guided them towards the lollipops. What good boys!