Blog | Whirlwind Trip
It seemed like a crime to allow the last remaining day on our Disney passes expire (they were set to expire at the end of September). As a happy coincidence, the Gators were playing Tennessee the third week of September. Sooooooo…what’s a Gator football loving family with two Disney loving girls to do? Why take a whirlwind trip to Orlando! Upon the recommendation of my dear friend Lisa, we stayed at the Art of Animation. Spectacular! The walls of this Disney property are full of early sketches from various Disney/Pixar movies – Finding Nemo, Cars, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid.
There are four main sections – one for each of these movies. We stayed in a Finding Nemo room!
By pulling down the attached wall, this table converts into a bed! B was ecstatic!
We kept the whole trip a surprise for B – though as we were driving, we did break down and tell her we were going to visit Tia! Here she is as she enters the room.
The view of the fantastic pool from our room.
Both girls loved this pool! M especially loved the splash pad area – stuck her face right in those fountains!
They loved the hotel so much, I was a little worried B would be disappointed to be going to Disney the next day. I worried for nothing – she was thrilled! This time, we just relaxed and did whatever we wanted. We did not worry about getting autographs, or finding certain things. We just went from one ride to the next, whatever struck our fancy, and had fun. Of course, we had to ride It’s a Small World…multiple times…
M loves the song, and especially loved all the little drummers (think the Little Drummer Boy cartoon). She did that drumming motion the whole time, and still does it whenever she wants us to sing that song to her. Here are a few other photos from Disney that day.
We tried to convince M to go in “the cell” with Zurg and B (one of B’s fav rides was the Buzz Lightyear ride), but she was having NONE of that!
They had a splash pad where we could cool off. B liked the idea a whole lot more than the reality…M loved the reality…
The carousel was also a BIG hit – maybe M’s favorite.
We even managed to convince M to take a nap on the people mover – a miraculous 90 minute nap!
Disney was closing early that day (booooo!), so we headed over to Epcot to check out the sites and the Nemo ride. We decided a boat trip would be the most fun – here’s Epcot on our approach.
We rode the Nemo ride twice, after which I finally convinced B to pose inside Bruce’s mouth. M was having none of that either!
We ate in France before heading home – wonderful day!
On Saturday, Jason and I went to see the Gators trounce Tennessee. The famous campus fries!
Gator victory (31-17)!
The girls stayed with Tia in Orlando. They had a blast hanging out at the hotel all day – playing in the pool, checking out all the different sites in the different sections, etc.
B getting her “tank” filled up…
Time to head home – bye Mr. Ray!
