Nataliya and Seth's Orlando Vacation

We woke up hungry and ready to move! However, we wanted some breakfast so we went to Waffle House for some breakfast. It was a pretty good breakfast actually, and I'm proud to say that I ate all my grits!

Then it was off to Epcot to finish a few things that we didn't get to do before. First we went into Spaceship Earth, sponsored by AT&T. This slow-moving ride explained the history of communication throughout history.

Then we went to see "Honey, I Shrunk The Audience" which was a lot of fun. It was 3-D and interactive... perhaps a bit too interactive for Nataliya. In one scene in the movie, a mouse was replicated en masse, and they slid down a ramp onto the floor. Hundreds of mice proceeded to run through the screen and into the audience. Unknown to anyone in the audience, a hiddle contraption under our chairs sprang out and tickled our legs, perfectly timed with the movie mice "running" under our chairs. Nataliya isn't a big fan of mice, so this really surprised her and made her jump up and join a few other screams mixed among the laughter in the audience!

From there, we went back to the "countries" in the Cultural Journeys portion of the park and went on the Maelstrom ride in Norway. After walking around, we headed back to the entrance and hopped on a monorail to the Magic Kingdom.

First we went to Frontierland to hit some Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. The latter was closed for repairs. Splash Mountain was ok and we all got a litle wet.

Then we were off to Fantasyland where we first went on the "it's a small world" ride. I went on this ride (in Disneyland, California) over 25 yers ago and I was still traumatized. Still, Nataliya hadn't been on the ride so I went on with her. I was less than excited about doing this ride again, but what can you do? Nataliya enjoyed it, but I think that by the end, the song was beginning to irritate her.

Then we went to Mickey's PhilharMagic which was excellent. It's another one of those 3-D movies where they add some extras to make it seem more real. The story in this is that Mickey puts down his magic hat that was featured in the movie Fantasia. Despite being told not to touch the hat, Donald does his own thing and it's nothing but trouble. I especially liked one scene when Donald dives in to catch the hat on the Mad Hatter's table but ends up catching an apple pie They both slide towards the audience until the pie is right in front of you and you smell the apple, thanks to a carefully timed incense spray.

I told Nataliya that we should head to the Contemporary Hotel for lunch because they have a nice place there to eat. So we headed out the exit and hopped on monorail to the hotel. What I didn't tell Nataliya (but knew for over three months) was that our friend Jen would be there. What's even funnier is that during our trip, Nataliya thought she saw a couple people who looked like Jen. (That's bound to happen when you interact or pass by thousands of people a day...) Anyway, Nataliya was very happily surprised when she saw Jen - the real Jen - sitting there in the hotel!

Jen was in Orlando to attend the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) 2nd Annual Meeting and to take the CAMS Exam. She wouldn't have much time during her stay, so we took avantage of this time, so the three of us went for some lunch, but the only thing open was an overpriced and undernutritional place that served mostly fried food. The food was mediocre, but we weren't there so much for the food. We were there for the company! After saying our goodbyes, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom.

We jumped on the monorail and soon we were back at the Magic Kingdom. We went to Tomorrowland and went on Space Mountain. This rollar coaster is in the dark as well, but you have no idea where you're going because there are not enough visual cues. Also, while this rollar coaster is not as fast as the Aerosmith Rock and Roll one, it does have a few nice dips and quick turns. Nataliya did not like this one, and she started to shout out "I hate you, I hate you!" followed by an occasional scream! I was sitting behind her, and to hear her say this sort of thing made me laugh! This kind of annoyed her, and she would shout out a "stop laughing" before continuing her screaming and "I hate you"s again!

After the ride was over, she apologized for saying such things. I think she was more sorry for giving me something to poke fun of! She may have been been scared of the ride, but I think enjoyed it!

Compared to that ride, the rest of the day was fairly calm. We went on the Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin where you're shooting aliens with a gun mounted to your spinning chair. We didn't do to well...

Then we took a slow train ride over all of Tomorrowland, thanks to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. This ride goes around and sometimes inside the attractions around the area. They even paged Tom Morrow for a phone call. They're just too cute for their own good!

Then we stuck around to see the 7 PM fireworks presentation, "Wishes™: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams". It started with a woman, dressed as Tinkerbell, leave the top of the Disney castle and fly over the crowds and over the buildings hundreds of feet away! The fireworks show itself was very well done as well, and the photos we took don't do it justice.

We quickly made our way out of the park, trampling as few kids as possible, and we went back to catch the monorail back to Epcot. When we got there, they had just finished loading one monorail and were heading out, when it stopped short because one of the doors wouldn't stay closed. They figured it out after five minutes, and they were on their way. A few minutes later, another monorail pulled up and we were on our way back to Epcot.

We headed straight for the countries again and sat down for some hot beverages while we waited for their IllumiNations fireworks show. After Nataliya drank her tea and Seth finished his hot cocoa & croissant, we headed to Italy to find a good spot to watch the show. In front of us was some couple who claimed to had been waiting at this spot for the fireworks show for 2 1/2 hours. What a waste of time! We just got there and we were right behind them! Anyway, we watched half the show before deciding to leave. We watched the show as we made our way out of the park.

Once back at the hotel, we had a drink and soon fell asleep.