Five things about home Monday

Well, really it should be *Sunday* since I lost an entire day (Tuesday) on my flight home, thanks to crossing the international date line. I've never done that before, and it's a bit of a weird thing to get your head around.

But anyway, I left Ft Lauderdale for Disneyworld on Friday afternoon. I was really sad to leave Amy! She was so wonderful the whole time I was there. I feel like we really cemented our friendship and helped each other through some tough times (and laughed enough to cry!). I am SO SO glad I went through that sucky week with Frank so I could spend two amazing weeks with Amy! I'm now intent on saving enough money to visit her again in the summer.

At Hooters! We are classy ladies!

She drove me to the airport, and let me use her phone when my "luxury bus" (Read: regular van) didn't stop where they said they would, so missed picking me up and had to be called back to come and get me. FYI: avoid travelling with "The Florida Express", they don't do anything they say they will. Well, apart from getting me to my Disney hotel, that they did do!

I stayed at Disney's 'Art of Animation' resort - their newest one, in the newest wing (The Little Mermaid), which just got finished in September 2012. The resort was awesome! I was doubtful that inside my room would be themed Little Mermaid, because it was one of their 'Value' resorts, but it was!! They had THREE awesome pool areas, a food court, outdoor movies every night, and free buses to everywhere Disney.

The Little Mermaid area/wing

My building

Under the sea beds!

Bathroom

The Lion King area

The pool!!

On Saturday I went to the Magic Kingdom and rode all the rides (except the really little kid ones). My favourites were the Wild Western Rollercoaster and the Space Mountain Rollercoaster. The Western one was an outdoor coaster with awesome scenery and fast turns, and was really fun. The Space Mountain was indoor and almost totally dark. You could never see the track or what was coming up. It was scary! But a lot of fun. In hindsight, I wish I'd gotten a photo with a Disney Princess, but I didn't see any and didn't think to check the timetable for it. But, it was a great day. I enjoyed the Magic Kingdom a lot, it was really well done! However, as you would imagine, it has mostly kiddy rides and not so much to keep adults happy. Many of the rides amount to 'sit in this car/boat/whatever and ride slowly around this track while you see robots move repetitively'. Good for kids, and fun enough, but not super thrilling.

Mmmm, breakfast. Chicago-style hotdog.

Manicured lawns

Random area of the Magic Kingdom

Cinderella's castle

Crowds on 'Main Street USA'

On Sunday I went to EPCOT, which a few people had advised me to pick as my second Disney Park. I wasn't very impressed. It only had a few rides, mainly of the 'sit and watch' variety, and then the rest of the park was separated into fake romanticised towns from around the world with mediocre food from that region and over-priced shopping. Having been to a few of the places (Italy, China, Japan), it wasn't very amazing. There was also a huge marathon being run through the park, which made it crowded and confusing. I left after just a few hours because I really felt like just sunbathing by the awesome pool at my resort. So, the beauty of being alone, that's just what I did!

EPCOT iconic golfball thingie. It's actually a 'Trip through human history ride' that's quite well done.

Lake and monorail

Marathon bisecting the whole park.

I had a really relaxing time, and before I knew it, it was time to go to the airport on Monday! My flight home was uneventful, other than I got an excellent aisle seat with extra legroom on the plane from LA to NZ. And now I've been home for 4 or 5 days. It feels like longer!

5 great things about being home:

1) I don't have to think about where to go, how to get there, where I'm going to eat, or where I'm going to sleep.

2) Hanging out with Mum and Dad is awesome!

3) Vegetables!

4) I don't have to go out, or feel guilty if I just want to stay home.

5) Rest time before starting again.