Our Disney Road Trip Top 10

For spring break we decided to road trip down to Orlando to immerse ourselves in the magic of Disney. We had many favorite things, but we've limited it to our top 10! Drumroll please.

#10 South of the Border--
We didn’t actually go there, but there were billboards about every 20 feet for 80 miles of the park in either direction! This statement is no joke and no exaggeration. Despite the numerous advertisements for the place, we still aren’t entirely sure what it is...an amusement park? a campground? a market? a glorified Trafalga? The world may never know. And we also heard that Ben Bernanke got his start working at South of the Border.

#9 Beautiful sunny weather--
It was wonderful to wear shorts and sandals and enjoy the heat! We were also there during the flower and garden festival, so there were lots of flowers and bushes shaped as favorite Disney characters.#8 The Animation room at Disney’s Hollywood Studios--
A hidden gem! We had a great time doing voice recordings of various animated characters and finding out which Disney character we were most like! Lots of fun and no crowds.

#7 Dinosaur--
Jamie and I totally coerced Clark into riding this ride. He is not a big fan of things jumping out at him and making loud screechy noises. I laughed a lot during the ride but never so hard as when we saw the picture taken of us during the ride! Clark's head was buried in his lap with his ears covered. Clark's note: "Look, guys. We all have our irrational fears. Mine happens to be sitting in a dark room and being attacked by giant, fake dinosaurs when the lights come up. Call me crazy. I certainly won't be riding that ride ever again."

#6 Hanging with Jamie--
Jamie is one of Clark’s close high school friends. She works for Disney and was extremely kind and helpful as far as getting us into parks and giving up her bed to us for a few nights. She showed us some great local places to eat and took some time off of work to play with us in the parks.#5 KP Mission--
Our Kim Possible Mission sent us to Germany to stop some evil guy from turning the city into zombies through something that had to do with selling pretzels. Our mission had various steps to it, and it was pretty impressive to see how secret messages were set up through out the park. We received our mission through a cell phone and a secret message at a miniature village.

#4 Expedition Everest--
A great rollercoaster. It was a bit of a wait, but at least the line winds through museum like rooms with info and artifacts about yetis and such.

#3 American Idol Experience--
Definitely intimidating and nerve-wracking, but pretty fun to have “been there, done that.” We both made it past the first auditions (me with "La Bamba" and Clark with "I heard it Through the Grapevine") and into the top 40. We full on sang in a microphone in front of a judge. My favorite part was Clark retelling his audition. He walked into the audition and the judge asked him what experience he had with vocal performance. He told her he sang in rock groups since the 7th grade. Then when she asked what he was going to sing, he said, "I Can Show You the World" from Aladdin. She wouldn't let him sing it, because it wasn't rock. He was nervous and it was the only song lyrics he could remember.

#2 Toy Story Mania--
There was tons of hype for this ride and LONG lines--at one point it was 3 hours long! We got a fast pass that morning to come back at 8 p.m.! Luckily, it was totally worth it! It was probably the cutest ride I have ever ridden and it was loads of interactive, 3-D fun! We loved the enormous childhood toys that adorned the rooms where the line meandered. Remember how fantastic viewfinders were and who doesn't love giant tinker toys?

#1 Splash Mountain--
We rode this ride 4 times in a row on the same log from 12:00-12:45 a.m.! A great view and a great drop!

Overall, Amy and I had a great time. Again, thanks a ton to my good friend Jamie for hanging out with us and giving us rides around Orlando. We loved our Spring Break to Disney World and can't wait to go back someday. Next time we might think about taking kids because then we won't get so many funny looks when we wait an hour in a half to ride Peter Pan. But hey, we are just a couple of adults who don't want to ever grow up. And if you'll excuse us, it's time for cookies and milk and an afternoon nap.