Ok, I have neglected my own vacation experiences long enough.
I have been to Disney World (in Florida) 19 times. Every time it is great!! I LOVE disney and it is def my fav place to go. My parents go so much they have no idea how many times they have been there, but it is more than 40. When you live in Upstate NY, that is a profound number of times to go to Disney World. I love the Magic Kingdom. I never get tired of it. I could go on Space mountain and Thunder Mountain a million times! Not to forget Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mtn, the Haunted Mansion, etc. What a great place! Only last time Lauren made me go on the ferris wheel thingy and I REALLY needed to get off! She loved it, I was having a major anxiety attack. I'm afraid of heights.
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EPCOT is another story, but I still go at least once and tour the countries, especially the English Pub. :hicks: Last time I went to Disney was in 2000 and I took my daughter for the first time. She sat in the pub with Heather and I and had countless shirley temples and other various drinks they made for her. They even took two criss-crossed drink swords and made a mickey mouse head with cheeries to put in her drinks. It is the little touches like this that makes Disney stand apart. They didn't even care that we had a 7 yr old in the pub. That was fine with them. In fact, they catered to Lauren more than us. We then took turns posing with the signature London red phone booth outside and got some great pics. Then we went on the Viking ride after buying the world's worst mango daiquiris.
Another fav place in Disney is Capt. Jack's Oyster Bar in what is now called "Downtown Disney." This is actually a seafood restaurant, but My mom loves it for the strawberry margaritas. Finally, I was old enough to have one (I hadn't been to Disney in 10 years) so I got one, so did my mom & dad, so they made Lauren a virgin one so she didn't feel left out! Like I said, the little touches. We didn't order it, and they didn't charge us for it. She was thrilled. We even took her pic with her margarita lol.
There were 2 new parks when we went in 2000 and MGM studios was really lame. However, it does house the greatest ride ever!!! The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. That was the coolest thing I have ever been on and Lauren loved it so much we must have went on it a million times. Being suddenly dropped 13 stories in the dark is simply too much fun. Add to that the spooky Twilight Zone story that goes along with it and the whole elevator thing and one word: AWESOME!!!
The animal kingdom was VERY cool, but it was over-crowded and also over 100 degrees. Once I looked at Lauren and her face was all red. So were the whites of her eyes. I realized she was WAY too hot, sat her in the shade, and got her an icee. Then I took her out of there and we went swimming.
During this trip I had one of the strongest instant attractions I've ever had, and it was BAD! Lauren and I went swimming one night around midnight. There was no one else there, then these 2 guys show up. One was a common nobody, but the other one was so incredibly dead sexy. He had a thin frame, muscular with fab abs and not an ounce of fat on him. He was naked except for a pair of shorts. He had his nipples pierced. (which I have always found very sexy) I'm really glad Lauren was with me, keeping me from talking to him. Why? Because he also had a hickey on his neck and a black eye. Still to this day I can't figure out why I was so attracted to him. :blink:
Anyway, we hope to return to Disney next spring. Lauren really wants to go and I hope I can take her. She deserves it after all, and want her to have the kind of experiences I had as a kid.
Last spring I took her on a Caribbean cruise. The first for both of us. It was great, especially the food and visiting the islands, but our time at sea was beyond boring. It was like being imprisoned on the Ritz. We both wanted to get the hell off the ship. I don;t think we'll be going again anytime soon.
Old San Juan, Puerto Rico was a dump. Every window and balcony was barred. The place was dirty. It had some really beautiful hotels and the old Spanish fort was cool, but no thank you. We won't be going back there.
St. Maarten was the BEST!!!
Docking in St Maarten We rented a jeep and a bunch of scooters and had one hell of a time.
in the back of the jeep We drank like fish, drove all over the island, went to a lovely
beach, visited thier bar and talked to the ppl who worked there, then we went to a nudist colony, but there was no one there. We found another
bar on the bay (OMG those shorts are horrible) and stayed there far too long imo, especially since Lauren was with us, but she had a great time. A couple ppl got tattoos, which we thought was nuts, since they don;t have the same laws of cleanliness there, but niether of them died from it lol. Heather and I stood up in the back of the topless jeep most of the time, drinking. We passed a shack with a monkey hanging around outside, which was cool as hell, and really just enjoyed ourselves. We almost missed the ship and had to run like hell down the dock.
St Thomas was alright, but I wished we could have seen more of the island. My oldest sister, Mindy, Heather's maid of honor, Lauren, and I took an excursion to St John, where we went snorkling in what is considered by the travel channel to be the 3rd most beautiful beach in the world, Trunk Bay. I will upload a pic I took from the tram type thing we took to the beach.
Trunk Bay, St John It looks like a postcard. (I labled my pics in MS Paint) It certainly was beautiful, but when we got back therre was no time to do anything else. We visited some of the shops next to the dock, then got back on the ship.
Nassau, Bahamas was too hot to enjoy. Lauren asked repeatedly to go back to the ship. Instead, I took her in the Pirate museum and we did a lot of shopping inside. The braid ladies were EVERYWHERE, yet Lauren told me I was polite to every one of them. I told her being rude does no good at all. All it does is make you look like a jerk lol. Anyway, they were annoying. After touring the straw market and wishing we had gone to Atlantis, we got back on the ship. At this point, Lauren confessed that she wanted to get her hair braided LOL!!
Anyway, the trip was great, even if it was just for the food.
I will have to get into my many other trips some other time. I can't type anymore!!
