Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving my parents came to visit and they kept me very busy! I was completely exhausted by the end of the weekend! I got really lucky because I ended up having Thanksgiving and Black Friday off because my normal days off have been Thursday and Friday. This was great given that my family was flying in on Wednesday night. On Thursday we went to a character breakfast at the Grand Floridian, where we were staying, so that I could meet a couple characters that have been on my list, most importantly Mary Poppins!

After our character breakfast we went over to Hollywood Studios and did some shopping since I have 50% off now and rode Tower of Terror. Dad chickened out, but Mom, Brandon and I went. The park was really busy so we basically just decided to go over to Epcot before dinner. Mom wanted to see the holidays around the world, but there ended up not being like any holiday stuff in the world showcase so we walked the world showcase, had a couple drinks and then went to Italy for dinner. Yes, we ate Italian food on Thanksgiving. It was a nice restaurant and we all liked whatever we ate. Brandon said it was some of the best spaghetti and meatballs he had ever had. After dinner we did some more shopping and then went back to hotel since we were getting up early the next morning!

On Friday morning Mom had signed us all up for a backstage tour of Animal Kingdom called Wild by Design. It was a really interesting tour about how they designed each area of Animal Kingdom. He was saying how the ground was supposed to show you where you are and then how the different countries were supposed to look as they really would look. This is different than the World Showcase where the countries look like postcards! We also got to meet with a couple of the keepers, one that works with the gibbons and one that works in the aviaries. The aviary keeper was actually a cello performance major in school which is funny! It was a great tour and I am sure my Mom could tell you more than I could!

Afterwards we explored Animal Kingdom and despite Brandon's protests we got some character pictures!

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to chill out for a little while because we were all tired. We had dinner at the Grand Floridian and then headed over to Magic Kingdom and did a few rides while people were watching the parade since the park was open until midnight!

Here is the beautiful castle all decorated for Christmas!

The next morning we headed back over to Epcot so they could get fast passes for Soarin' and they had always wanted to go to Le Cellier which is the steak house in Epcot and probably one of the most well known restaurants in the World Showcase. My family loved their steaks and my salmon burger was great. Then I had to go to work and they continued playing in Epcot. It was a great weekend, but I was completely exhausted!

Ryan is coming again next weekend which is funny because last time my parents were here and then he was here. We will be going to Universal Studios though, so it will be a very different weekend!