Brian's NYC

Thankfully, I'm not alone and whenever we can, we make plans to leave. In a few weeks, we'll escape for a few days to Boston to visit Elie, and while it won't be much warmer (or any warmer) than NYC, who cares?! At least we're escaping the humdrum and the gloom of our everyday routines.

Last week, Nic and I escaped to Disney World for, um, President's Day. Oh, and Valentine's Day. While it was an extremely un-relaxing and whirlwind vaca, it is exactly what I needed to be able to survive the last leg of this unhappy winter.

Saturday night after both of us had to work a full day, we trecked out to JFK via the A train (btw, don't forget to give yourself an extra hour to get out to the airport so you don't almost miss your plane. think you factored that hour in? add another one.) and arrived in Orlando at 11PM. By the time we got to our hotel it was midnight and we didn't get to sleep until about 2AM (because seriously, we're at DISNEY!).

After only about 4 hours of sleep we awoke and bussed it out to the Animal Kingdom. We stayed at the Dolphin resort, located right off the Disney Boardwalk, Hollywood Studios and Epcot. But to get anywhere else, we had to be bussed around. So after arriving at the Animal Kingdom at 9AM when the park opened, we enjoyed exploring all of the attractions, including Expedition: Everest, Disney Worlds answer to the Matterhorn. It was here that we were taken aback by the number of amazing fashion mistakes, prompting us to document as many as we possibly could on film. Among our favorites were crocs with mickey cutouts in them (you can also bedazzle crocs with different jewels, did you know that?), mullets, and a poor little girl who didn't realize her skirt was tucked into her underwear.

We were able to take a break in the middle of the day to nap and relax, since we had extended hours in the Magic Kingdom for staying on property. We had a romantic dinner and headed into the Magic Kingdom at 10PM, in time to catch the tail end of the Electrical Light Parade (or ELP, as Brian Curl exclaimed). It was there that we waited in line for the longest that we did the entire trip: 30 minutes for Space Mountain, right before the park closed at midnight. We had been joking about people who get fast passes thinking they are really smart and beating the system, while we had fast passes ourselves for another ride, causing us to have to wait in the stand-by line. So this guy comes traipsing down the fast pass line screaming "Fast Pass is the greatest thing in the world!" Yeah, fast forward to him eating it a few feet later. Karma, bitch, karma. We stayed in the Magic Kingdom until 2AM (it was open until 3), and we literally walked onto every ride in the park. We almost had our own train on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, our own boat on Pirates of the Caribbean, and our own log on Splash Mountain. Overall, I really enjoyed the rides in the Magic Kingdom more than Disneyland, but they'll always have a special place in my heart no matter what.

The next day we slept in (and I needed it, as I came down with a nast-nast cold), and headed over the Hollywood Studios. Not much going on in that park, except for the Tower of Terror and Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster. Those rides ROCKED! There's a lot of shows and street performances going on, as well as a whole Pixar area, which would have been great, if I were 9.

Then it was on to Epcot for some world travels and drinking. Around the world. My new favorite Disney pasttime. Here's how it worked: Start in Mexico, grab a margarita. Then sake in Japan. Wine in France. Prosecco in Italy. Coladas in Morocco. Bass Ale in England, Another margarita in Mexico. Liquor tea in China. Lager in Germany. More beer in Canada. Skip Norway, 'cause there's nuthin' there. Have another margarita to make up for it. I guess Epcot had some other fun things to offer, but let's be honest, it was all about the World Pavilion. We finished the night with a fireworks and laser light show, which was not as exciting as the Twirl Mania show we caught at Epcot the day before (picture a 10 year old boy drop a baton during a showcase and run off-stage. Enter host of the show with "Can't you just see him on the field at Ohio State?" Yeah, being hate-crimed lady. At what point do you steer your child in a different direction?).

The next day was nice and relaxing with us taking a monorail tour of the various resorts located near the Magic Kingdom. It was amazing to see more of what the resort has to offer, and I can't wait for my next visit, but hopefully next time it will be longer than just two days!