The Life and Times of Bendy Ruggles: 2006

Well, I claimed this was pre-Bendy, but really it's not. I was two months pregnant on our vacation, I just hadn't found out yet... Partially because I had an inkling I was, but I didn't want to feel guilty riding all the rides that said "Don't ride if you're pregnant", so I decided to wait until after our vacation to take the preggo test. I never claimed to be a saint ;oP but she turned out beautiful, so who's to say the adrenalin rush didn't do her body good??

I have been a Disney freak all my life. This is a lot to do with the fact that my grandparents loved Disney and brought all of our parents and then us grandkids up watching the movies, playing games, and basically worshiping the ground that Walt had walked on. I went to Walt Disney World for the first time when I was sixteen with my mom, brother Mitch, Aunt Tami, cousins Miles and Bobby, and my best friend Merry, and we had a blast... so of course, as an adult, after graduating college, I decided to go back. I used all of my gift money from graduation on a vacation for Will and I from September 9-16, 2006. I would definitely recommend that time of year to ANYONE who hates waiting in lines and frying like an egg- the weather was gorgeous, still hot but not sweltering, and since it was right after all the kiddos went back to school, there was barely anyone there... They weren't even using the fast pass tickets because the lines were all shorter than the fast pass wait time! To top it off, it was GREAT being able to be there as an adult without young ones- no worries about waiting outside the rides with the too-short ones or whining about which rides to go on :o) I have to admit, we didn't get as many pics as I'd like (you'll be shocked to know that once you see how many are below... lol) because it's really hard to enjoy yourself on rides and in restaurants while still taking snazzy shots. I did get some really good ones in the Animal Kingdom though, which was my favorite park. Here are some of the best pics of us enjoying our one and only vacation alone so far-- WDW!! Have a magical day~~

Magic Kingdom- Cinderella's castle at night. It was lit up beautifully, but was very hard to get a good photo of. If you look closely, you can see the kids from Peter Pan flying around the topmost spire.

This is me, sitting in Rabbit's house. Rabbit must be very short.

Will in Eeyore's gloomy place. I don't know how you can be gloomy in Disney! :oP

Me, in Pooh's thoughtful spot!

No, that's not me. It's some random lady. I was just taking a picture of the Nemo sculpture.

I'm sitting on one of the "L"s in the "All-Star Movies" sign on the front of our resort.

This is from Fantasmic, my FAVORITE show we saw! Yes, the water is on FIRE!

Awww. He's so cute. My man, waiting for the bus!

Please don't squish me!

Will, trying to pull the sword out of the stone. I guess he's not secretly a knight. Damn.

Spirit of Aloha show. That was a good one too! One of the fancy dinners you can trade in two of your regular sit-downs for on the dining plan. Psha!

Fire player man from Spirit of Aloha. He was awesome. And sexy too. Which helped.

More fire player man.

Cute Willis in the tunnel!

Us, realllllyyyy tired.

Mickey and Minnie bush.

Will and I, tired but in love and having fun! I like this picture, I actually look like I have a tan. Which I don't, I have a burn which faded into.... my pasty pale skin. No tan for me.

This is our resort, nothing too fancy... All-Star Movies! I like the randomly huge characters though.

This sign cracked me up. I want one.

Another statement sign- in the Animal Kingdom. So true...

Hidden Mickey! We sucked at finding them overall, but here's one! Yay!

ANIMAL KINGDOM PHOTOS:
I liked taking pictures of the animals. You can catch them in some pretty funny poses... The safari ride was the best!! I definitely recommend it... It's so amazing to be driving through this environment where these wild animals have free reign and can come so close! I had a blast.

Zebras on the Safari Ride

Crocodile. I didn't get too close.

Funky black and white ducks.

Will beats a drum on the pathway! Taking a short walking break.

A tiger, lounging.

Rhino on the safari ride!

Fake ruins, but hey, they look neat.

Scary lizard thing. I forget what kind it actually is. Other than creepy.

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I think these are gazelles?? If anyone knows more about animals than me, your FYI on what the ones I don't know are would be appreciated! I just thought they were adorable.

Flamingos!

This giraffe was really fun. He was walking behind us for a bit.

Yes, this is a gorilla. And yes, there's a branch in front of his face. What do you expect when I'm on the move in a safari van??

Antelopes or something like that?

Okay, so even though I've seen plenty of birds in my day, and not so many tigers, zebras, hippos and giraffes, I think this is my favorite animal picture I took that day. I just like the colors and composition of the photo.