A Mini "Vacation"

Last Monday and Tuesday I got to take a mini vacation from work, and entertain my theatre director from home and her mom, who were on vacation for the holidays. It was such a treat to be able to take them around the parks and show them a good time.

I was able to book them a hotel (Port Orleans French Quarter) at a 40% discount with my Disney ID. (Gotta love those Cast Member benefits!)

So I met them Monday afternoon at their hotel, and helped move them into their room. We then began our little vacation by heading over to Animal Kingdom to catch the last showing of Festival of the Lion King... they loved it! That's always a great show.

Then we headed over to Epcot to walk around World Showcase and grab a bite to eat. So I made reservations for the new Mexican restaurant in the Mexico pavilion, La Hacienda de San Angel. The restaurant was really nice, and we had a gorgeous view of the World Showcase Lagoon. The food was great too... and it was nice to eat some real food for a change!

Then we walked around through the countries and stopped in France for some dessert. I always have to stop in the little pastry shop for their chocolate mousse... delicious! Afterwards we headed back to Mexico and stopped to watch Illuminations... always a treat.

The next morning I met them at their hotel and we started our day at Hollywood Studios to see Beauty and the Beast (seeing as Tiffany directed BATB last summer, it was a must-see!) Tiffany's mom insisted we see the American Idol Experience, since it's one of her favorite shows, so that was next on our list. After that, we saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid and went to meet Sorcerer Mickey in the Animation building. We ended our time at Hollywood Studios with the Great Movie Ride. They definitely enjoyed all of the shows.

We then drove over to the Magic Kingdom, parked at the Contemporary Hotel, and took the monorail into the park (I thought it would be more fun than walking.) We headed over to Tomorrowland so I could show them where I worked, and we ended up grabbing a quick bite to eat at Cosmic Ray's. Then we did a bit of walking around just to see the sights, and watched some of the castle show, and then made our way over to meet Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen. Those two are always so much fun!

After that, we did a bit of shopping on Main Street, and then decided to spend the rest of the evening in Downtown Disney. So we headed that way, and made reservations for dinner at Cap'n Jack's restaurant. We did a bit of shopping, and then went and enjoyed a nice seafood dinner. After a bit more shopping, our night was coming to an end, and I took them back to the hotel.

We had such a wonderful time! I love being a tour guide and showing people around the parks. Tiffany hadn't been to Disney World in 15 years, so it was definitely fun showing her around.