Friday the 13th!

We have just returned from a long weekend at Disney World. The kids saw a brochure about "Limited Time Magic" on Friday the 13th at Hollywood Studios where many of the Disney Villains would be at the dance party. For the past six weeks, that's all they have been talking about wanting to do. So, we surprised them with a trip over there. We stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club that wasn't too far away from the parks and we enjoyed having the full condo with the kitchen and washer and dryer, as well as the great pool and water slide!

We arrived around 4pm on Thursday and went to Magic Kingdom for several hours. On Friday we hung out at the hotel and played in the pool, rested, then went to Hollywood Studios for the Villain Bash. Jeff found a great spot at the back of backstage, so most all of the characters passed by, and we were able to get pictures with most of them. The kids really wanted to see Cruella Deville from 101 Dalmations. It was getting pretty late and they were getting tired...Finally, she came back there. When Savannah saw her, she started jumping up and down and shouting "it's her, it's her!" Thank goodness she stopped and took a picture with the kids. That made their evening, and we were able to go home at that point!

We slept late on Saturday and then went to Epcot. The crowds weren't too bad and we were able to ride most everything that we wanted. Test Track broke down right before we got in the line with our Fast Passes, so we left out of the park. Jeff was able to trade them in at Customer Service for fast passes for any ride in any of the parks since we weren't going to be there later in the afternoon to redeem them. We figured we would save them for Toy Story Mania in Hollywood Studios on Sunday.

We got back to the condo, changed clothes, and went to the pool for a little while. Savannah really enjoyed playing with all of the other kids there, and Vince enjoyed going down the water slide over and over again. We got to the room in time to watch the Alabama vs Texas A&M Football game and went out to Mexican for dinner. We were all exhausted by 9pm!

Today, Sunday, we surprised the kids with a character breakfast at the Hilton Hotel near downtown Disney. It was a great setup-no reservations, and there were four Disney characters there: Brer Bear, Brer Fox, Minnie Mouse, and Pluto. We didn't wait around for Minnie, but the kids loved seeing the Song of the South characters!

We hit Hollywood Studios from 10am-1pm today, and that was plenty. We stood in line to get some pictures with characters, used our Fast Pass on Toy Story Mania, and rode a few other rides. Savannah loves Rockin' Rollercoaster and Vince loves Tower of Terror. We split up and rode with each of them, then left Orlando.

What a great weekend we had! We really enjoyed the convenience of the condo and the great pool they had there. It was nice to relax and not be so pressed for time in the parks. We will definitely stay there again, if the price is right!