Day 1: Sunday, April 20th - We flew to Tampa, celebrated my brother's birthday, went to dinner, and checked into the hotel. It had a great view from the balcony. *You can click on the slide shows to pause the pictures - they go kind of fast*
Day 2: Monday, April 21st - Went to Disney's Magic Kingdom, got stuck on Pirates of The Caribbean (none of us like the song Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me anymore!), went to Monster's Inc.'s Laugh Floor, stopped at the Hall of The Presidents, rode the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and fell in love with the Haunted Mansion, the Mad Tea Party, and Space Mountain all over again! While in line for Space Mountain, the ride was shut down. On the way in, we noticed lots of those plastic balls you find in McDonald's ball pits. We found one stuck under the railing on the ramp where we were standing, so to pass the time with the remaining crowd we took turns throwing the 'Space Ball' up the ramp like a game of ski-ball. It was hilarious! The ENTIRE line got involved, cheering for those who got the 'space ball' closest to the top of the ramp, booing those who 'threw like girls'. It was a blast! Who knew a gross plastic ball would get so many people chatting and having such a good time?! It was almost more fun than the ride itself...Almost!
Day 3: Tuesday, April 22nd - Went to Disneyworld's Hollywood Studio's. We rode the Tower of Terror, Aerosmith's Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, and Star Tours - The Star Wars Ride.
Day 4: Wednesday, April 23rd - Busch Gardens, baby! While my mom and I watched our crazy men on most of the rides, we were brave enough to try a few. Most of the pics you see are from the ride Sheikra. Yeah, not exactly my thing! Still, ya gotta love the boys brave enough to ride that...and on the front row! :) We were so proud! Our men "Conquered The Five" and had a blast!
1) Gwazi, one of the biggest and fastest double wooden coasters is also the most rickety, teeth-rattling, jarring ride I have EVER been on! I had a headache ALL day and don't really recommend this ride!
2) Sheikra, according to Busch Garden's site is: "200 feet up, 90 degrees straight down....As the nation’s first dive coaster, SheiKra raised the bar with first-of-a-kind elements like a true 90-degree drop, an Immelmann loop and a second vertical dive into an underground tunnel. In June 2007, Busch Gardens reintroduced SheiKra with a new twist: “floorless” cars that allow riders an unobstructed view of the 70 mph rush."
3) Kumba has a "135 foot drop, you will plunge from 110 feet into a diving loop, feel a full 3 seconds of absolute weightlessness while spiraling 360 degrees, and tear through one of the world's largest vertical loops."
4) Montu: "one of the tallest and longest inverted roller coasters in the world. Experience the thrill of an inverse diving loop and a 60-foot vertical loop while you endure speeds of over 60 miles per hour and a G-force of 3.85."
5)Scorpion: a "terrifying 60-foot drop and 360 degree loop at incredible speeds."
Day 5: Thursday, April 24th - We spent the first half of the day at The Kennedy Space Center and the second half we boarded the Carnival Sensation. Kennedy was really cool! It's amazing how big the shuttle's are compared to the actual living-space astronauts have! We also saw the Cassini orbiter and the Huygens spacecraft my dad worked on. My dad's job has always been highly classified, but it's not a stretch to say he's a Rocket Scientist. It was really cool to finally get to see something he's worked on! At one point, someone dressed as an astronaut came out to take pictures with the crowd. I didn't see him/her coming up behind me, so as I turned around and got my first glimpse of them I jumped about a mile! *sigh* I really struggle sometimes! :) The astronaut waved to me (and probably laughed) and I am SURE I had this look that went from shock to utter embarrassment, but it was funny!
Day 6: Friday, April 25th - We arrived in Nassau, Bahamas. I was shocked at how rocky the boat was! It was hard to stand up straight, much less walk without running into things! It was such a weird feeling to be completely surrounded by water and not see land at all! The water was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and the pictures don't do it justice! We got to go on our shore excursion - snorkeling with stingrays. Now, for those of you who don't know me well, deep water is NOT my favorite thing. I soon discovered huge stingrays are not my favorite thing either! At one point, I was standing there surrounded by 4 or 5 HUGE rays, one of which proceeded to come straight for me ramming into my leg! I felt bad for it - it hit my leg hard! Otherwise, it was a cool experience...one I will likely not try again though! The rest of my family, however, loved every second of it!
Day 7: Saturday, April 26th - We were on our way back to Florida. We got to play mini-golf and just hang out on the ship all day.
Day 8: Sunday, April 27th - We got off the cruise ship, had a run-in with a not-so-friendly guy at Custom's, and headed back to Kennedy Space Center. My brother (Brandon) has been NASA obsessive his whole life, so we decided to go back and go on the 2 1/2 hour tour before we caught our plane home. After that, we drove back to Tampa, boarded the plane, and had a rocky trip back! It was one of the wildest rides I was on the entire vacation! We hit storms and out of nowhere the plane would just drop! It was crazy! We had a blast on our vacation and are so glad we got to go!
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