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| Thursday, Nov. 14, 2002 MGM studios! Day 5 we headed out early so that we could be back in time for Christmas festivites at the village. MGM studios was lots of fun for the kiddos as it's home to Playhouse Disney. Two of Aspen's Favorites can be found there...Bear in the Big Blue House, and Rollie Polie Olie! She was hooked! That was our last stop before heading out and it really made the trip. In addition we also tried to take in the Indiana Jones show but it really scared the kids so we ended up leaving that one. The Kids got to meet Scorcerer Mickey here, and Madison really loved "THAT mickey" better than the rest. His get up really was fantastic. We got some great pictures. We kept this day short and we were back at the village in time to eat and get ready for SANTA AND MRS CLAUSE! This was totally amazing as they made it snow in Florida for their arrival! It was probably 80 degrees and snow was coming down! We all got our pictures taken with them, and they gave out presents to the kids! It was amazing. Each of the kids got a disney movie, a grinch, and a toy of their choice. (By this time we are wondering how we are going to get all of this stuff home, as we've accumulated quite a stash of stuff they have been leaving for us, and today when we came back we had found a HUGE disney framed art in our villa for us to take home.) The kids were totally exhausted and it was a good thing....tonight was our night for Mayor Clayton to come tuck the kids into bed! Yay! We were back at the villa by 8 and got the kids ready for bed in time for the famous bunny to arrive at 9:15. Morgan especially thought this was phenomenal. He even checked under the bed and everything before tucking them each in with their own picture of him under their pillow! Then the kids were off to sleep while mom and I finished packing for our trip out the next day. (The plan is a quick stop at Seaworld before heading to the airport.) |
| Friday, Nov. 15, 2002 Our last day in Florida! What a sad day! This has been one phenomenal trip to this point and no one is ready for it to end. We ate breakfast early then finished loading the car. We had to stop at the main office to check out and boy were we in for a suprize. Not only did they have our 8 by 10 picture of mickey waiting on us, but they had all kinds of things. Cassette tapes of the music that played at the village, a copy of our star with Madison's name that we put up on the ceiling of the castle of miracles (we also put our names on flower viles that they used to make the Rose Bowl Parade float in Pasadena Ca (2003), and the best gift of all....Madison got a World Passport for Kids from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. This pass allows Madison and 4 other immediate family members (the same number that we took to florida) complimentary admission for one day to EACH park that is a member of the IAAPA. It's good until Nov. 15 of 2003. That means that this summer we will be touring amusement parks it seems. (And there are some great ones...they supplied us with a 12 page list of participating parks such as....Kings Dominion, Six Flags, Hershey Park, Carowinds, and even smaller parks are listed such as Pro Park in Richmond. I think our major summer trip will be to Sesame Place in PA with a stop at Hershey Park on the way home.) I think that made ALL of the kids happy when I got back in the van with that one! Then it was off to Seaworld. We didn't have much time here but we did see the Great and fabulous Shamu show! The kids also took a fabulous picture there. It was one of the best ones taken (by the parks) during the whole trip. Then it was off to the airport. We got lost of course and made our flight by about two minutes!! Whew! The upside to that was that we didn't have to wait long before getting off the ground! We had a layover in Charlotte again, and took that oppourtunity to grab some pizza and eat it before our second flight. By the time the last plane took off it ws completely dark. Coming back into Roanoke Regional you could see all the city lights lit up. Madison was impressed...."Look! They decorated for us!" Haha! Paw Paw was waiting to take us home and we were all totally exhausted. I think all the kids fell asleep on the way home and we didn't unpack that night. (As a matter of fact it actually took me a few days to get unpacked.) It was a Phenomenal Experience, and we can't wait to visit GKTW if we ever get back to Florida! We also have some great photos of GKTW that we would love to share with you! Just click HERE! |