Our magical day in the Magic Kingdom

On Wednesday, Tim and I took the day off and headed east to Orlando. I had taken a personal day and he had traded a day off with a coworker, so it was a nice break in the middle of the week. The reason for the trek to Orlando? This little promotion.

I had registered a few weeks earlier and gotten my free admission in to the park of my choice. In retrospect, we might have enjoyed Epcot or Hollywood Studios more, but I wanted to see that castle, darn it. Tim had never been to Disney, and I hadn't been there since 1996, I think. We bought Tim's ticket online using the Florida resident discount - yes, for living in this constant state of tourism and humidity, we are awarded 10% off Disney admission.

The weather was great - not yet too hot or humid - and the crowds were fairly small. I think the longest we waited in line was 45 minutes for Splash Mountain. We skipped one ride because the projected wait time seemed too long and we wanted to get a drink. We came back and the ride was temporarily out of service, so we skipped it completely. I had never been on the Haunted Mansion, and that was fun. Some of my favorite attractions from the mid '90s were no longer there, and Space Mountain was closed for refurbishment. We had lunch at a cafe near Pirates of the Caribbean, where the man who took our order laughed at me when I said I wanted the quesadillas. Later, I found out why he laughed: It was from the kids menu. And came with grapes and unsweetened applesauce. I think he was offended that I ordered Diet Coke instead of milk, but I didn't know it was the kids menu! It was good, though, and hit the spot without leaving me feeling sluggish. We later got over-priced popcorn - but left the park before requiring dinner.

Disney also probably has the biggest collection of "children in desperate need of a nap and therefore have a massive meltdown" that I've ever seen. I mentioned to Tim that a lot of parents will stay in the resorts on Disney property so they can escape for naptime, and then they return later in the day. We saw quite a few families with small children entering the park as we left. I can't imagine being a little kid and waiting in the long lines, in the heat, in the crowds, with all of the fun stuff to buy swirling around you and Mom and Dad constantly having to say no. Tim and I decided we're not taking our kids there - but if you want to, be our guest! :-)

We were wiped out by 5 p.m. We aren't used to getting up early, and after the drive, the standing, the walking and the heat, we were exhausted. We wrapped up the day with some shopping on Main Street and were lucky enough to see a parade passing by (in photo at right).

We got to the car and started out trek back to Bradenton. We were hungry and stopped for dinner at one of the first exits. After dinner, I slept in the car for about an hour until we got closer to home. Then we stopped for Dairy Queen, and with a Midnight Truffle Blizzard, my birthday was complete. We watched baseball and mindless TV for a few hours before heading to bed early after our long day.

It was an awesome birthday - thank you to everyone for the calls, cards, e-mails, presents, texts and birthday wishes!

Pretty shrubbery!

An elephant on the jungle boat ride.