One Day My Paycheck Will Match My Dreams...

This weekend has been one of the bestest bestest weekends on record.  J-Unit and I went to Walt Disney World to celebrate my birthday.  I'm not sure how other people do it, but it took us 4 days to get in everything we wanted to do; we had to wake up at 6:30 every morning, and didn't get back to the hotel until midnight.

Our adventure began at the airport when we almost didn't find Disney's Magical Express.  Its a free service that takes guests from the airport to the hotel, and what's even cooler is that all checked bags miracously makes it to the room without us even seeing it!  We stayed at Disney's Carribbean Resort.  Its a decent place if you don't mind walking, and have a good sense of direction.  Instead of being like traditional hotels, which are built up, CB is spread out over a vast expanse of land.  From the lobby, it took us 10-15 minutes to hike it to our building.  There were times (especially since it felt like we were making our way through a jungle) when we were walking when I was thinking, 'WTF.'  But we eventually found it, and after dumping our carry on bags, we headed out to Epcot Center. 

This is how incredibly awesome J-Unit is; she got me a monogrammed Tigger handbag to carry around!

 Don't even think about stealing it! It was perfect for carrying my water bottle (our attempt at budgeting by not buying bottled $2.50 Dansani water), snacks, hoodie, and maps of every theme park (we definitely needed those).

Our first stop was EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow).  Of all the theme parks at Walt Disney World, I think EPCOT was probably the most boring in terms of entertainment and rides.  As I write this, however, I realize that we went there like three times.  So maybe not so boring.  Anyway, although EPCOT is famous for the ginormous golf ball looking thing, the World Showcase is so much cooler and underrated.  World Showcase reminds me of NYC.  You know how NYC has the "Little Neighborhoods" like Little Korea and Little Italy?  That's exactly what World Showcase was, just more organized and compact.

Kim Possible: J-Unit's precursor to being a Bond GirlThe first thing we did was the Kim Possible mission in England.  The game is interactive, with a Kimmunicator (a Sprint cell phone), and our mission was to save the world from being turned into a giant golf course.  While the technology was pretty cool, there was way too much talking and not enough clues to look for.  I'm not sure how little kids don't get bored, because 5 minutes into it J-Unit and I were thinking about food. 

Before the mission was over, I peeked into one of the buildings and <GASP!> there was Winnie and Tigger!  Kim Possible mission was temporarily put on hold.  I had to show Tigger my new bag because duh-it had his face on it. Can you tell that I used to 'stalk' boy bands? Winnie was probably a bit jealous.

This is one of the million of pics J-Unit and I took with characters.  Sadly, we were the only 'adults' without kids.  That probably means something but I'm happy swimming in denial.

After we finished the Kim Possible Mission (a success!) we boogied over to Morroco for lunch.  After that we cruised on by Japan.  Between Japan and the US was a funnel cake stand, so we split one.  Yes, this was about 5 minutes after lunch.

Hey, at least I stopped there.  J-Unit, however, found something else she wanted to try- snow cone!

Walking around World Showcase, we stumbled upon Snow White. Now I understand how important Snow White is to the history and success of Disney, but taking a picture with a real live person is just creepy.  People in costumes, I can do.  But women in makeup is a whole different ball of wax.  So, I have no pictures with any princess.  (And I can happily say I feel normal.) 

Conversation between J-Unit and Snow White:

Snow White: And where are you from Princess?

J-Unit: Texas.

Snow White: Did you ride here on a horse?

J-Unit: Yes I did.

Snow White: My goodness you must be so tired!

J-Unit: Yes I am.  

Snow White is thinking, 'where the &%#! is the kid?!?'

(You see how J-Unit is taller than a Disney character?  That will be a running theme throughout our vacation.)

The other countries represented at World Showcase include Mexico, Norway, China, Italy, France, Canada, and Germany.  In another example of our quality pre-college education, I looked up at a building and said to J-Unit, 'Oh-we must be in the Middle East.' It was Italy.  And the only reason J-Unit knew that was because it looked a lot like the Venetian hotel in Vegas. 

The last ride at EPCOT we did the first day was the Finding Nemo ride.  You know what the Finding Nemo ride is good for?  Those people who never saw the movie. That's not to say that it wasn't good-just not very exciting.  

I'm not a fish-therefore not a friend.

We were all set to leave after Finding Nemo and go check out Magic Kingdom.  Then, of course, we look into another building and its the character Meet n Greet spot. 

After taking pics, we headed off to Magic Kingdom, where we proceeded to take more pics with characters.  After Tigger, Buzz Lightyear is my second favorite character.  Just like how I don't like to take pictures with princesses, I'm not the biggest fan of hugging them either. 

Awkward Buzz, awkward!!! Abort Abort ABORT!

Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters used to be my favorite ride, but it got upstaged this time (pics to come later on that ride).  After Astro Blasters, it was time for the Magic Kingdom fireworks show, Wishes.  I tried videotaping the whole thing, but haven't checked on the quality.  That and, its quite boring if you weren't there to watch it first hand.

We had a 9pm dinner reservation at California Grill, an upscale restaurant on the top floor of Disney's Contemporary Resort.  Its got a fantastic view of Cinderella's castle, and would have been perfect for watching the fireworks show, if only our dinner reservation coincided with the show.  Nevertheless, it was spectacular. J-Unit started off with the smoked duck flatbread with fontina cheese, dates, arugula, organic citrus, and crispy salsify.  My meager attempt at being healthy (we each brought 3 cup of noodles for late night hotel snacking, which, surprisingly ended up being my morning breakfast) included having an heirloom apple salad with fall greens, almonds, dried cranberries, Maytag blue cheese, and cranberry vinaigrette. 

For the main course, J-Unit went with the Tempura Malibu roll, which had Cobia (what's that? We have no clue.), Hamachi, Tuna Tartare, and Spicy Sesame Sauce.  I went with a simpler dish, the lamb risotto (I <heart> lamb). 

We saw surrounding tables with confetti, and asked our server what was so special about them because duh-its my birthday weekend. Viola!  He was even kind enough to split it up into two envelopes so we could take it back.  I still have mine in my wallet.  Maybe subconsciously I'm thinking its magic dust or something. 

I think someone needs to invent a shoe where the foot is encapsulated by gel cushioning.  Its a shame I didn't bring my pedometer to track how much we walked.  Considering the fact that we woke up at 6:30am two of the days, were out by 7:30am, and didn't come back till after midnight, I'd say we walked over 10 miles.  That may or may not include the distance walked because we didn't know where the hell we were going, or wanted to ride some rides twice.