Disney World Continued

So the first day, after the flight fiasco we got settled in our hotel room.  For anyone who ever books a vacation package through the Disney website, please be aware that whatever hotel you are staying at takes your bags directly from the airport to your hotel room, which is amazing, but not if you don't know that. We stood at baggage claim for a solid half hour and even started checking other flights thinking it got mixed up. We kept looking at each other in a panic. I had a laptop in my bag, about $500 worth of clothes, all my make up, my hair dryer, straightener, my life, you know, those kinds of things. Finally we went to the information desk and they explained this to us.  Would have been great to know at some point before that.

If you've never been to Disney before, it's literally a 'whole new world', and I'm just trying to be lame and steal quotes from Aladdin--It's seriously like you've stepped out of the real world and into a warp of somesort where everyone is extremely jolly and friendly.  There's 'Disney magical express' busses that take you to all the parks, except Universal Studios, that's not part of Disney. Ben had to remind me of this at least 16 thousand times while we were there. If the busses can't get somewhere, then the Disney monorail system will whip you around to restaurants and what not.

The Magic Kingdom was really fun.  I'd have to say my favorite ride here was definitely the Haunted Mansion. It's really amazing how they do some of the effects on these rides. The ballroom part of the ride is the best part, and you walk out of there actually feeling pretty creeped out. Sounds a little stupid, but bits and peices of that ride would pop up in my dreams for like a week after. I found a video of it on youtube, but it's pretty dark. If you move it to about 3:48 you'll be able to see the ballroom. http://youtu.be/LG7n2ZD1z_U It just doesn't do it justice though, it's something you have to see for yourself. We went on Space Mountain, which I loved. It's a pitch black, indoor coaster. Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger spin, Pirates of the Carribean, and of course, It's a Small World.  Wow...that ride is annoying. After that, I was so exhausted.  The lack of sleep from the night before started to really hit me, so we headed back to the hotel and we passed out in our beds. Heh.

The next morning (Sunday) we had Alamo car rental come pick us up so we could rent a car.  I am 25 and have a valid driver's lisence, so we figured we wouldn't have a problem. Wrong.  I guess you have to have a major credit card, and I only had my bank card (which is a Mastercard...I didn't get it...still don't).  Ben, who is only 23, ended up having to put the car in his name with $40 extra for insurance.  As the guy is ringing us up he says, "Would you like to be upgraded to a Camaro for an additional fee?'  Ben's eyes lit up.  "How much extra?"

"80 dollars a day."

After a brief moment of hesitation, a smile stretched across his face. "Screw it, let's get the Camaro."

And off we went in a 2011 Camaro. 

Universal Studios was next on our list.  It was sunny and 85 by the time we got there.  I was feeling much better today having gotten a full nights sleep.  I'm sure you all remember that the 1 place I wanted to see most was The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  This place was amazing.

Once inside, I had made up my mind that I wanted a want from Ollivanders wand shop. We waited in line for 45 minutes in the scorching sun to get inside this place.  While we were waiting, Ben got us some Butterbeer, which is not beer at all, but a VERY rich creme soda with a frothy melted ice-cream substance on top. I could only handle about a half a glass of it. Both Ben and I felt sick after drinking it--definitely not something you should get while walking around in the sun for hours and going on rides. Of course, right after we drank Butterbeer and left Ollivanders with our new wands, we went on the Dueling Dragons rollercoaster. I had such a headache after that. Between the heat, Butterbeer, and being whipped violently about on that coaster was not a good combo.  We went to Jurassic Park after that and sat down for some dry as leather chicken strips.

(Side note: I found out just recently my idol, Bert the Conqueror was there the very next day after we were. I was SO crushed.  Bert is the only reason I went on the Raging Bull last summer.  I would have loved to meet him!  http://youtu.be/ZXDhICjInVk )

We went on a few more rides before we called it a day. My head was starting to throb at that point and all I wanted to do was go jump in the pool at the hotel and cool off. We went to Universal two days in a row, ending our second night at Bubba Gump shrimp before we went back to the hotel for some much needed beers.

And this is where I leave you my friends.  Once again the work day is over and I will start with Epcot next time:)

Byebye.

3 Floyds and Disney World

 Hello,

I really hate that I cannot keep up with this thing.  I dissapoint myself when I come back and notice I haven't updated in over a month. I decided that today I would temporarily neglect the piles of files on my desk to get an update in.  Before we left for Orlando, we took a trip over to Munster, Indiana to visit what in Ben's mind, is heaven, 3 Floyds brewery.  For those of you who read my previous blogs (bless your hearts) you know that I do not like crafted beers. I prefer light 'piss beer' as beer connoisseur's would call it. Beers like Select 55 and Michelob Ultra, you know anything light and watery that my weak stomach can handle large liquidy portions of.  My first beer was a Gumballhead, a golden, 5.5% ABV, wheat ale that I actually enjoy.  Floyds has a great menu, consisting from fennel, schnizels, and basic sandwhiches. I got a grilled chicken sandwhich with their homemade horseradish mayo for dipping, and I've been craving another one since we left. I normally do not like horseradish or anything with horseradish in it, but this stuff was amazing. I'm sure it's a very simple recipe, but it's good enough to eat on sandwhiches and fries, and that's what matters. My second beer was some kind of Japanese rice beer that I cannot remember the name of, but it wasn't one of Floyds beers, it was just one they carry.  That one was pretty gross, and I had a hard time getting it down.  I was also extremely full at that point, and pretty lit from the first beer.  I am a puss, I know. Ben drank a Dreadnaught, a verrry hoppy ale, with a 9.5% ABV and a Ham on Rye, which literally tastes like a smoked ham sandwhich. I even liked this one!

After we ate, we went to see the tour of the brewery.  It was more of a Floyds history lesson since there wasn't a whole lot of 'touring', but it was fun nonetheless. I posted the pictures of it below. Every year Floyds has a Darklord Day where they only sell their famous Darklord Beer that one day.  By some stroke of luck (6000 tickets sold out in 3 minutes) Ben and I got 2 tickets and are attending Darklord Fest at the end of the month.  I'm pretty pumped.  We went last year (when they didn't provide tickets--obviously not expecting the turn out) and got there at 9 in the morning and the place was PACKED shoulder to shoulder. When I say place, I actually mean 3 streets worth of people as the fest is obviously outside. People were throwing up in the streets already, sleeping on the sidewalk, it was pure chaos. It was pretty stupid because of that last year actually, so we left empty handed.  This year, they have time slots for groups of people to go and get their bottles of Darklord and we got the 5-7pm time slot.  This year it should be more enjoyable because we will actually be able to go and taste beers and have a good time (I hope).  Ben is brewing a batch of his own beer right now, a Boysenberry IPA, so I'm rooting for him since he's a rookie, that it turns out good. 



You can read more on it at http://www.3floyds.com/. I'm not sure if you can actually purchase their beer online, but if your interested, I'm sure it's possible.  Needless to say, we got home that afternoon and took nice long naps.

So, the night before we left for Disney, I wanted to be in bed AND sleeping by no later than 9 pm seeing as though we had be up at 3:15 to get to the airport.  I tend to get cranky when I don't get my sleep, and we weren't just landing in Florida and going to the room to take a nap before venturing out into the World of Disney, we were landing, dropping our stuff off and starting the day. So I drank a few beers, popped a sleeping pill and dozed off shortly after.  Ben came to bed about an hour later and of course I woke up. I hadn't been asleep more then 20 minutes probably, if that. So he passed right out, and I was now wide awake.  Long story short, I watched Pee-Wee's Big Adventure twice before I put Beetlejuice in the dvd player, cryed like a baby for a few minutes out of frustration from lack of sleep, and ended up falling back asleep at 2:30am.  So, 3:15 rolls around and I'm back awake, tired, and extremely irritated. I would have been ok with even 4 hours, but roughly 1 hour of sleep? Come on.  This was also my first plane ride, and I was terrified.  So we get to the airport, check our luggage and go get some hot dogs in the food court. Finally when our flight is called, I notice that Southwest is loading people on the plane in groups.  Our tickets were group C35 or some shit. In other words, Ben and I were two of the last people on the plane and Southwest is also open seating in rows of 2, seats of 3.  So of course, to make this morning even better, much to my disbelief, Ben and I are separeted on the plane. I'm stuck in the front between two black people, and Ben is way in the back. Not to mention, the dumb bitch who had the window seat had her window closed, and was casually napping on it with her leopard print pillow. She had a Steve Harvey book open in front of her that she would periodically open one eye and glance at for a few minutes.  The seats were tiny and if I ever so slightly brushed this woman's arm or something, she would slowly turn and stare at the spot like I just poked her with a cattle prod, which at that point, I would have LOVED to do.  Like I said, I'd never been on a plane so I at least wanted to sit by Ben to have someone to talk too, or AT LEAST get to look out a window, but instead I got stuck in between Tokin and Rawanda who was SLEEPING on the window. BITCH! Thankfully, the ride was 40 minutes early and we were off the plane in 2 hours. I kept myself busy by playing Nintendo DS and thinking happy thoughts.

We got to the hotel once we landed in Orlando and got ready to go out. At this point, I was more awake and excited.  For some reason they gave us a double bedded room, so we compromised...

We started our trip with visit to the Magic Kingdom...

Unforunately this work day is now over and I will have to continue this, I WILL get more pictures up asap...

To be continued...