Our Christmas Vaca

Does anyone else feel like Christmas came and went too quickly this year? I can't believe it's over already!

We had a completely wonderful, relaxing break this year for Christmas. Early last year, the Wall family decided that their next Christmas would be spent outside of Utah. Instead of the traditional gifts, we all decided to take a getaway. Originally we all wanted to go to Ohio to ride the tallest/fastest roller coaster in the country, but the bright eyes of this little girl convinced us to pursue a different location:

She told us all about how she was the only twelve year old who had never been to one of the Disney theme parks before. She has been all over Mexico and cool places like that, but they all amounted to nothing without a visit to Disney World. And away we went.

We had such a blast partying with the fam in Orlando! Everything was so much fun and the company was even better. I suspect that the trip helped prep Tyler for another semester of school. It was a wonderful Christmas!

This was taken on our way from the airport to the condo. We had a few hours to burn before the rest of the family got there, so we were able to go for a walk and explore the area before all the excitement began. We also hired a chauffeur to pick us up from the airport and this is what he showed up in. What an exciting start to our vacation!

This ride won my award for the best roller coaster of the trip. Each seat had an MP3 player type of gadget where you got to pick what music you wanted to listen to throughout the ride. The drop right at the beginning of the ride was FANTASTIC!

Here we are inside Hard Rock Cafe, which was delicious and overpriced. We also accidentally stole an I heart MJ pin that belonged to our hostess. Once we figured out whose it was, we snuck it back onto her desk and ran for the doors. What a silly night!

This was taken during the first day at Universal Studios. In case you can't tell by my gigantic perma-grin, we were a little excited to be there.

How cool is this building? I just had to have a picture of it! Once inside, we rode Mission Space, which makes you feel like you are taking off in a space shuttle. I was most impressed with the experience and have never been so excited to push two buttons before (each rider is instructed to push their own buttons throughout the ride). It seems silly in hindsight, but we were all feeling pretty intense as we soared off into space that day.

This car represents the one cool part of the Test Track ride in Epcot. I was not a fan of this ride, but the cars we got to see along the way were neato.

Our pose in this picture was inspired by the giant belly above our heads, which belongs to a blow fish. Unfortunately Mom is opposed to needless scenery in pictures, so instead it just looks like we decided to puff our cheeks out for the heck of it.
These next few pictures were taken at Epcot in Disney World. For those of you who haven't been before, they have individual areas dedicated to several different countries so you feel like you are touring the globe. One of the best parts was the soccer store in the United Kingdom. We were able to get Tyler a Manchester United shirt. Between his shirt, and my fascination with all the cool UK accents, we were both in heaven.

We couldn't go to Epcot without visiting Japan. They had all sorts of really cool Japanese items inside for purchase. One of my favorites were the socks and sneakers that separate your big toe from the rest of your other toes. Tyler said it stems from a religious belief. They look exactly how you're imagining it: like a mix between mittens and toe socks, only they also came in sneakers. I almost wish we would've bought some just for the sake of owning them.

Rockin the 3D "safety visors" at the Simpson's ride in Universal Studios
This is just a really cool wall we found at Epcot Center at Disney World that I insisted on having a picture of. I want one of these at my house.
One of the things we were determined to do in Orlando was to visit the temple there. It was gorgeous and the celestial room completely blew me away! While inside, I met a temple worker who was my age. She had moved to the area so her husband could fulfill an internship. I was so impressed that at such a young age, she was serving in the temple. What an awesome opportunity for her and what an excellent example of faithful service!

These next few pictures were taken at the Toy Story Mania ride inside Hollywood Studios at Disney World. They must've had the most creative interior designer ever. The place looked amazing! Everything from the walls to the ceiling were covered in giant toys that made you feel like you were the same size as all the toys. I've never been so excited to wait in line before! The actual ride was fun as well. We got to shoot a cannon at toys just like a carnival ride and Tyler schooled me every time. Here are some pictures of the completely adorable building:

The entire street is covered in lights like this that "dance" to Christmas music. One of the highlights of this trip occurred on this very street. Tyler agreed to dance with me down the street between all these bright buildings while fake snow fell from above. After one particular dance, we heard a group of people clapping for us. Apparently they had gathered just behind us and stood there watching us get our jigs on. It was just like out of a movie and I will never forget it!
Here is a glimpse of the new Harry Potter land they are creating at Universal Studios. It is not opening until May, but we were able to get some really cool views of the work they've done so far and it looks incredible! Once it's done, it's going to have all of the cool little shops in it from the book. We were a little sad that we missed it by such a short amount of time, but were happy to see some of the progress they were making on it.

Here we are on the cutest merry-go-round I have ever seen. It was inside Grinchville in Universal Studios.
The prince and his noble steed.

This is what the top of the merry-go-round looked like. So cute!