Two weekends ago, Gena and I went to DisneyWorld to celebrate my cousin Joanna's wedding. There were about 40 people there in all, and to say that we had a blast would be a grave understatement.
We arrived on Friday afternoon and were the first ones in our "crew" to arrive. My stepbrother Keil and his girlfriend Louisa arrived late Friday night, Kirk got into Orlando at about 6am on Saturday, and my Mom and Mark landed around noon on Saturday with my Granda Connie.
While we waited for people to arrive, Gena and I relaxed for a while by the pool on Friday afternoon, then took part in the Bachelor/Bachelorette activities. In one of the highlight events of the weekend, we procedded to "drink around the world" at Epcot Center, hitting 12 countries in all. Needless to say, many good stories came about from the night, most of which should not be posted here!
On Saturday, the Mirr-Jansen-Porter crew headed to Hollywood Studios (formerly known as MGM Studios) after a late breakfast and coffee run. It's safe to say that the favorite rides of Saturday were the Tower of Terror and Aerosmith's Rock'n Rollercoaster. The back-stage tour was also pretty fun and provided a nice break from the sun. As the sun began to set and we travelled via boat to the Disney Boardwalk to meet up with the rest of the crew for dinner. We ate at a great brewery, and then headed to Epcot (again!) for some lake-side desserts, drinks, and fireworks. We were all quite a spectacle with our fleece blankets, glowing wristbands, and multi-colored neon cups. Forgot to mention: highlight of the day was riding the bus to Hollywood Studios and being simultaneously amazed and scared at the wackiness of our elderly bus driver.
On Sunday, we ate an early breakfast with the parentals and headed via bus to the Animal Kingdom. Highlights here included the Bug's Life 3D Adventure, the numerous animal sightings, and the Kilimanjaro Rollercoaster. We left around 3pm to head back to the Bay Lake Tower of the Contemporary Resort (where we stayed) to shower and get ready for the wedding. At 5pm, we were picked up by a limo and driven to the wedding chapel, and then back to the Contemporary for a FANTASTIC night of hors d'oeuvres, dinner, drinks, and MORE fireworks on the top floor. At 10pm, in a fit of randomness, Kirk, Gena and I raced to the Magic Kingdom on the monorail for one hour of fun-filled night coasters. We managed to go on Thunder Mountain, run all the way across the park (in our dress clothes) and ride Space Mountain twice before we were finally kicked out at closing time. We got some great looks from the few people that were left in the park.
Monday was pretty uneventful, and we arrived back in the cities at about 3:30pm and were in Eau Claire by 7pm. The weekend was a much needed break from reality!
