Day 7 - Our last full day of play

This is it. This post will conclude the WDW series of posts, because I am anxious to get back to the now and current! Day 8 was just a boring travel day anyway - no blogworthy material there. As I begin to "draft" this blog post, Supermom Kelli is packing (HA!) for her great escape to Walt Disney World. Go check out her blog, because she is just so crafty and such a cool mom AND she's a mom to 3 boys too! Have a fantastic time Kelli and keep that camera handy (but NOT on top of the stroller!) I look forward to your WDW posts when you return. I'm so jealous!

Donovan (with the beginning of pinkeye), Bianca and Dominic

Our last and final full day of fun was playing catch-up on things we didn't get around to, but were in the plan. The one "must do" item on our list was yet to be done. The planning for this trip all started when Rudy was watching the Food Network, Disney Channel or Travel Channel (I can't remember!) and he saw WDW all decked out for the holidays with huge authentic gingerbread houses being decorated in the lobby of one of the resorts - either the Polynesian or the Grand Floridian. This was his dream. Seeing such intricate detailing on these "homes" caught his eyes and tickled his tastebuds and the family trip was born. Two years later, we make it happen....

This particular Saturday morning, a week since our trip began, we set out to see these two resorts in particular. Knowing we had to go back to finish Epcot for the rest of the day, we parked at the Transportation and Ticket Center and boarded the monorail to the resorts. We first came to the Polynesian Resort. Not much excitement here, although the souvenir shop was a hit! The decor was very tropical and had that island feel. Onward to the Grand Floridian. This was a beautiful resort from what part we did see. Here, they had one huge gingerbread house - nothing like what was seen on TV, but one nonetheless. Pictures were taken and a replica house was purchased for us to bring home (and eventually devour). Forget not, Epcot...

With house in hand, we head back to the Transportation Center to catch the monorail that takes us to Epcot. Security made Rudy open his specially packed house. Grrr! We left it and our other packages at Package Pick-Up to retrieve at the end of our day. A great service to spend the day package-free and less worrying about having them all.

After a quick (everyone goes) ride on The Seas with Nemo and Friends, we were off to travel the world... at the World Showcase of course. We had a lot of ground to cover and countries to visit. We spent more time in some areas of the world than others.

Passing through Canada, Bianca spots this North Pole native.

Could it be? Stopping for some fish and chips in the United Kingdom,
we hear the sound of this famous quartet.
They were fun. Donovan was in guitar-heaven.

Isn't she lovely? - why, it's Mary Poppins of course!
She was complete with her English accent and proper manners.

We breezed by France and came upon Morocco, where there were a few time-consuming sights. While a few of us were waiting to see Beauty and the Beast, the (bigger) boys went to check out the belly dancer's moves on display. We must have just timed it right, because we were lucky enough to see Aladdin, Jasmine and the Genie too!

I love the beauty in these koi fish. This huge pond was located in Japan, where we watched Taiko drummers perform and found a few souvenirs to purchase.

They amaze me...their size, their colors. Perhaps it's just the tranquility?

After Japan, we were upon The U.S.A. Pavilion. The sun was beginning to set and we were realizing we'd only traveled halfway through and there were many more countries to visit. The boys loved watching the trains that were chugging around the huge Christmas tree.

We had to represent our Italian heritage. Not much to do here in Italy, but pose for photos!

We pass a few beer-drinkin' folks in the Germany Pavilion and quickly breeze by China in route to find the restroom in Norway's Pavilion. It was now dark and not much to see. Our world travels concluded in Mexico. We were seranated by mariachis as we found some sombreros for the boys. There were plenty of streetlike vendors in this area, however, I'm sure they wouldn't accept bartaring. Bianca was "crowned" in the jewelry store and played Princess for the rest of the evening. Imitating It's a Small World, Grandma and Papa Gertie, Grandma Carmen and Bianca rode on The Gran Fiesta Tour boat ride. I'm sad I missed out on it, but felt it was best to stick with my irritable boys at this point. This concluded our worldly adventures.

Our final attraction was to see Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. Funny, looking at its description now, I wish I would have taken this more seriously: "This show may be scary for children and those with animal phobias." Put rats and snakes in the same setting and we're going to freak out. Teenagers would love this stuff! Coming to the realization that our vacation was ending, we slowly forced ourselves toward the exit, calling it a day.

I am now putting the finishing touches on this post and excited to publish it BEFORE Kelli returns with her family from WDW. Now I can sit back and see what adventures she has had.