First Disney Day

It was rough getting up this morning with the time change, but once we got started on our day we were all wide awake.  Brett was up even earlier than Doug, Cameron and I as he had to catch a flight at 6:25 a.m.  Since he lost an hour of sleep that meant that he was really leaving at 5:25 a.m.  He made it to the airport without any issue.  I had recommended that if he was there early enough that he check the 5:30 a.m. flight to see if they had a seat.  Thankfully, he never took me up on that and stayed with his original time.  In the end the first flight of the day was delayed by five and a half hours and Brett was on one of only two flights that made it out on time this morning.  They delays weren't quite over this morning as he had to sit on the tarmac for an hour before there was a spot for his plane to disembark, but that didn't really matter to any of us, we were just happy that he made it to Orlando.

Once he got off the plane, we drove to EPCOT and were happy to start our Disney vacation.  Epcot was extremely crowded by the time we arrived, but it didn't change anything that we had planned.  We stopped at the Cool Club so that the "Big Beverly Guy" could try his favorite drink and the boys could sample a few of the international Coke flavors.  My DAS pass allowed us to ride Soarin' and Spaceship Earth if we wanted to today.  I was also able to book several other rides as well.  We even got a reservation on the new ride, Guardians of the Galaxy.  I had a lot of fun riding all of the rides with the boys.  Without the DAS pass I would have never been able to do so as the wait times would have been way too hard on my leg.  Guardians was a little too hard for me as it was a roller coaster that also spun sideways.  I thought for awhile that I was going to be sick, but once I closed my eyes I did a lot better.  I probably wouldn't go again, but was really glad that I tried it.

Riding wasn't all that we did today.  We also visited the Flower & Garden Festival complete with Disney topiaries, an Easter egg hunt and a lot of delicious food and drinks to try.  Everyone really enjoyed it, but the highlight for me was listening to the Rick Springfield at the Garden Rocks concert.  I thought that I would only know one or two songs, but in the end I could sing every word to all of the six songs that he played.  His voice wasn't as strong as it used to be, but he belted out Jesse's Girl just like when I was 13 years old.  It was so fun to listen to and I knew that middle school me would be very jealous.

Cameron and Brett left on the Skyliner for Hollywood Studios while Doug and I were at the concert.  Once it was over, I grabbed a gondola for The Caribbean Beach where we were staying for the next few days.  It was a quick trip to our hotel and the Skyliner station was extremely close to our room.  Doug drove the Pilot over to drop off our luggage before he headed back to Ocala so that he could work on Monday.  I spent the rest of the evening at the hotel relaxing.  It was a nice hotel and I was able to walk down to the food court for dinner, but the best part of staying at the Caribbean Beach was that I could hear Rick Springfield's two additional concerts.  I couldn't believe it and had so much fun listening to the songs again while I waited for the boys to return.