Swimming, Naps, and Yetis?

After Star Wars Weekends on Sunday, the rest of the week was a random combination of trips to the park, trips to the pool, and naps/TV watching. For the first time EVER, we didn't eat at any of the sit-down restaurants. That saved us a bundle of money. Our view from our room was of Downtown Disney. We loved watching the new hot air balloon ride go up and down all day long.

A typical day for us included:
Sleep in until around 8:30 or 9:00 am, eat breakfast, throw dinner in the crockpot, get our suits on, pack a lunch/snacks, hit the pool for a few hours, come back and eat what was in the crockpot, clean up the dinner dishes, hit the park with the Extra Magic Hours for the evening, grab a late dessert in the park (who can resist ice cream, chocolate mousse, and chocolate covered marshmallows?), then come back to the condo between 10pm and midnight, and crash...only to possibly repeat the events the next day in another random order.

We hit Animal Kingdom and got to ride Expedition Everest a few times. Still one of the best rides at "the World." Gotta love that single rider line (it means that everyone rides, but not necessarily in the same train)! It was much shorter (30 minutes) than the regular standy-by line (90 minutes). When the kids were little, we would bring bubbles to entertain them while waiting in the long lines. Nowadays, Harrison has his own version of entertaining himself in the long lines--a Disney Rubik's Cube.
We made point to eat at Yak and Yeti. We did the counter service as opposed to the sit-down service--it was the same food, and it was cheaper. It a nice change of pace food-wise and we loved the "take-out" boxes. The kids had Pizzafari pizzas and salads.
Harrison didn't go on the Stake trek this year.

So, we thought we'd send him on the Disney version... Just call him Sherpa Schaefer


Then, we rode Dinosaur. Can I just say how much I absolutely H-A-T-E this ride? I HATE this ride! But it was well worth the trip when I saw the picture at the end. Harry always knows how to lighten the mood. Make sure to click on this picture...it's priceless.


The next big adventure was EPCOT...