Yo' I survived my vacation and post-vacation.

Now, I am finally ready to reflect on our adventures.   Yea, I know it took long enough.  You can blame it on the radioactive waves I absorbed from the new fancy-pants, look inside my body, scanners.  Oh wait, I got to skip that contraption!  How did I achieve that?  Well, apparently I do not suit the profile of a terrorist.  Or it could have been because I was man-handling two young children hopped up on the remnants of Disney-sugary-goodness.  The TSA may want to show you who is in charge, but not enough to expose tiny peoples' tiny bits to radioactive waves.  We were ushered on through a standard scanner.  True story and a WIN! 

Now for some of the highlights of our trip.

Number One -We stayed at Disney's Old Key West Resort for the first time.  It was nice (check out the view from our room), but the pool was just 'meh (no zero entry?  come one Disney, reevaluate that - the resort is full of old people and children, both could benefit).  The bar was nommy though, as was the brownie sundae I got for breakfast dessert.  That's right, I had ice cream for breakfast, and ate it all too.  Funny side-story, eating ice cream for breakfast while sitting in front of my parents, without them commenting, was the moment I realized I had actually passed into adult hood.  That  ID actually means nothing.  Ice cream for breakfast is the true test. 

Number Two - We consumed many great meals and awesome adult beverages. Some of the places we hit were Akershus Royal Banquet Hall,  Les Chefs de France, The Wave, and everyone's favorite Le Cellier.  

Number Three - We were there for the opening of Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival.  There were some amazing topiaries, but lines to get photos of the more family friendly ones (Toy Story, Cars, etc).  That was lame, but what are you going to do.

Here is a picture of one of my favorite princesses featured in the show: Aurora AKA Briar Rose or Sleeping Beauty

Number Four - We got to experience some of the new changes occurring at Magic Kingdom.

The first thing is the "new" fast pass system.  And by new I mean actually checking the times on the card.  We have never wanted to anger the mouse gods, so have always followed the time stamp, so this wasn't an issue for us.  Cast members were actively reading the times which means that the "minimal wait" was truly a minimal wait.

The Second thing was the expansion of Fantasyland.  We could see that everything was nearing a soft opening and was hoping that we would be lucky enough to be the first guests to see it.  Nope, didn't happen.  That was the Monday we got home. Damn…well, there is always June and December. 

The Third Magic Kingdom related thing was the new interactive game: Sorcerers of the Magic kingdom.  You better believe we got our key cards, collected new packs daily, and beat the shit out of villains.  Both my husband and daughter became Master Sorcerers. And yes, we will be continuing our quests once we return to the Magic Kingdom in June.  FYI - they keep your game active for nine months after your last play.  This means we won't have to start from scratch and we will be better prepared.  By prepared, I mean sporting our dork regalia - retractable card holders for the key card, and pages to protect and hold our deck.  Sad, but true story...

I know this is a brief overview of the highlights, over the next few weeks look forward to more in depth reviews and a few critiques too.  Come on, it may be Disney, but it isn't infallible.  Overall, though, it was a great time had by all.