Adventures at Disney World - Day 5

Our prayers for a dry day were not answered - sigh...  Tropical Storm Debby was parked over Florida, moving at zero miles per hour (no, that is not an exaggeration).  We had planned to spend our last day at Animal Kingdom, but with the weather the way it was, we made a last minute decision to go to Hollywood Studios instead.  That was an excellent decision, as it turns out, as almost all of the attractions are indoors, and we were faced with another very WET Orlando day.

It was raining pretty hard as we drove in to the park, and right after we forked over the cash to pay for parking, both Kyle and I gave each other an "are we seriously going to do this?" look.  The parking lot was a not-so-small pond, but we poncho'd up the kids, the double stroller, ourselves, and headed on in for what we were convinced was going to be a horrible experience.

The first attraction we hit (well, swam to) was the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show.  The cast member informed us that it could be as long as 45 minutes before we were let in for the next show, but as the line was covered and dry, we were more than happy to wait.  The kids enjoyed a snack and some time out of their ponchos while we waited, and we enjoyed a GREAT show.  The special effects were really cool too - lighting on the ceiling to make it feel like you were swimming underwater, bubbles sprayed into the audience, etc, etc.

Ariel with Ursula the Sea Witch

As it was still raining like crazy when we exited, we immediately made our way next door to catch the Disney Junior - Live on Stage show, featuring Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and I think I may be forgetting one more... (Hannah is so hooked on Mickey Mouse that we simply don't have time for the other Disney programming).

Excited for Mickey Mouse's debut!

The little one, in particular, went nuts when they were all on stage

We were slightly encouraged after this show was over to find that the children's risk of drowning had somewhat diminished.  Though ponchos were still a necessity, the rain had slowed down somewhat as we made our way over to catch the Muppets 3D movie.  We enjoyed that (also very cool special effects - bubbles, water spray, etc, etc), and had just enough time when it was done to make our way back to the front of the park to hit Beauty and the Beast - a Broadway-like show performed in a large amphitheater.  Shockingly, not only had the rain stopped when we finished up with the Muppets, but the sun was actually out!

The whole show was great - especially the costumes for these guys

I feel for the guy who gets stuck in this Beast costume on a hot day...

Belle in her "fancy dancing dress" as Megan calls it

Megan loved, loved, loved the show!  The sun was still out when we left the amphitheater, and I was actually considering applying sunscreen for a short second, though the skies remained a bit ominous.  Hollywood Studios is a pretty small park (microscopic compared to Magic Kingdom and Universal Studios), which was a welcome surprise after the last four days of intense long-distance hiking.  After Beauty and the Beast, we trekked back to the Pixar section of the park to redeem our fast-passes for the Toy Story Mania ride.  (We were thrilled to have them - though our fast-pass time was a full 3 hours from the time we got them, by the time we got back to the ride the standby line was 2 hours long and the fast-pass return times were 8-9 hours out!)

The ride was sooo cool!  It was a 4D ride, meaning we all looked awesome in plastic yellow glasses, spinning you through a "course" of various arcade games where you shot at different Toy Story themed targets.  It was definitely my favorite ride of the trip.

Looking forward to Toy Story Mania

Glasses on - almost go time!

"Let's do this thing!"

Attempting to shoot at the targets (disclaimer: I rode with Hannah and was unable to take pictures of Megan in action)

Having just a bit of fun

Despite her enthusiasm for the game, Player 1's aim was a little off

Mommy & the ladies post-Toy Story ride

The rain clouds had moved in again, and we decided it was time to get the heck out of dodge.  We made our way to the front of the park once again and prepared to say goodbye to Disney World...but not before we stopped for ice cream!

Sayonara, Mickey Mouse!

We picked up Grandma Purdy, grabbed some lunch and headed off to the airport.  Though we had an amazing adventure with lots of fun, Mom and Dad were pretty relieved to be heading home.  Disney World is E.X.H.A.U.S.T.I.N.G.

Lunch was at a McDonald's featuring the World's Largest Playplace.  By this point, our birthday girl was kind of too tired to care...

...and we were too tired to really care what this little game at the airport was all about, just relieved that the sisters were having fun together.

Two worn out little ladies on the plane ride home.  Amazing that they were  this calm, as we were in the throes of Tropical Storm Debby for the first hour of the ride.  Mom, not pictured here, was going a bit psycho in a seat across the aisle.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to make such special memories with these girls!  It was an amazing experience - one we will surely repeat...in several years...after we've recovered from this one.

A BIG, HUGE THANK YOU to Grandma Purdy for her efforts.  Thank you so much for traveling with us and helping us manage the chaos that comes with our little traveling circus!  Thank you for hanging out with Hannah so we could spend some one on one (well, two on one) time with the birthday girl.  Thank you for spoiling aforementioned birthday girl with special presents to unwrap while in Florida.  Thank you for hanging  out with us in the park to celebrate her special day.  Thank you for wrangling both of them on a rainy day in Florida while Mom & Dad enjoyed Harry Potter.  Thank you for talking to me on the airplane so I could be somewhat distracted from our imminent demise (still don't know how we escaped with our lives).  And thank you for allowing them to sleep in the next morning and ushering them off to school at a more leisurely pace.  You are a wonderful Grandma and we are all so lucky to have you!!

Also very not-so-small THANK YOUs to Grandpa Purdy (and Grandma Purdy again) for the use of your timeshare during our stay - it was very awesome to have so much space to destroy enjoy and a fully functioning kitchen, AND for watching our rotten beagle during our stay.  Thanks to Grandma Dee for also helping with Lacey and watching the cats while we were gone, as well as the unsolicited shuttling of our vehicle to/from the airport to avoid obnoxious long-term parking fees.  In our situation, the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" rings true, but could also be modified to included "and/or some really awesome grandparents".  Our baby girl could not have had a better birthday (the little sister was pretty far from miserable too), and we couldn't have done it without you.  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!