I am in the mid-portion of my life and have just returned from my first Disney World vacation. I have two young daughters and obviously the trip was more for them, but I found myself having a wonderful time at the magical kingdom. We spent a week visiting each of the parks within Walt Disney World.

We stayed in a townhouse in Kissimmee. The prices were very affordable as we were visiting during one of the least trafficked times. Most of the American kids were still in school. We arrived at our townhouse on Sunday night and proceeded straight to Hollywood Studios. We purchased the buy six days and get the seventh day free plan. Some people buy the park hopper plan but we found after our first full day at the park that there was no way we would have the energy to visit more than one a day. As a matter of fact we discovered that it was best to simply sleep in and not try to rush to the park first thing in the morning. Most of the parks within Disney World stayed open late in the evening. Some parks would close early one or two nights a week so we just saved that one for another day. We discovered that as we were arriving at Disney World after lunch, many people were leaving with their small kids.

Parking at DisneyWorld is $12. Paying that for 6 days can really stretch the budget but there is really no way around it. At least that we found. The transportation from the parking lots to the park entrance is convenient. They have a handy tram that you pile on to. Security will check your bags before you enter enter park.

Our daughters are 15 and 7. We bought a stroller for the 7 year old. Seems crazy since she hasn't been in one for over 3 years, but we carried a lot of water, some snacks and the little one got tired and we knew she would end up riding the majority of the time, so the stroller came in handy. By the way, my wife carried a pedometer each day at the park. We visited all the parks in Disney World at least once over 6 days. We ended up walking just over 25 miles total.

The first park we went to was Hollywood Studios the day we arrived. I really enjoyed this park. It had my favorite rides: The Rocking Roller Coaster and The Tower of Terror. Those rides came later in the week for my wife and myself. The first ride we rode the night we arrived was Star Tours. A space flight simulation. The kids loved it and it was a good start to our vacation.

The next ride we rode Toy Story Mania. It is a shooting gallery ride that is too much fun. The kids really loved that ride. The wait was long. Probably the longest wait for any ride we went on until Saturday. By the way, since we were at the park from Sunday through Saturday, in an off-season time, the crowds were not that bad. The wait times from Monday through Thursday was no more than 15 minutes on any ride except Toy Story Mania.

Anyway we ended our first day at Disney Hollywood Studios at the Fantasmic show. Actually the crowds were pretty thick for that show. They did back to back shows. It was a "25-minute nighttime fireworks and water show performed select nights starring Mickey Mouse and a bevy of delightful Disney Characters and features classic Disney music and songs, laser lights and amazing hydrotechnic effects." We enjoyed it.

The following day we went to the Magic Kingdom. We rode Thunder Mountain and went through the Haunted Manshion. We walked up the Swiss Family Treehouse, went on the Pirates of the Caribbean, rode the Mad Tea Party and the Astro Orbiter. The kids loved it.

The next day was Animal Kingdom. It was the only day we arrived to the park early. We saw Finding Nemo the Musical. We went on the safari and rode Expedition Everest (a couple of times before it got crowded), Dinosaur and saw a 3-D movie "It's Tough to be a Bug. There were a lot of 3-D movies at each park. They are all very fun to watch. We also saw a parade before we called it a day.

The next day was back to Universal Studios. This time the adults were in charge and we went straight to the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. That roller coaster is fun but way to short for my liking. The initial take off is pretty thrilling though. Very, very fast. We also went and rode the Tower of Terror. Visually it is very cool. The 13-foot plunge is fun though I think it is a combined 13-foot drop and not all at one time. It would drop you, then drag you back up, then drop you again. We saw another 3-D show and went through the Narnia attraction. Of course everyone wanted to go through Toy Story Mania one more time.

The next day was Epcot. By this time we pretty tired. We did not spend a ton of time in the different countries. We walked around the lake through each but did not stop for any of the shows. The rides were fun. We did Mission: SPACE which was a space simulator. The one we all really enjoyed was Soarin. It simulated a hang-gliding flight over California. We went to see The Seas with Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush, which was pretty darn funny. The aquarium was very cool as was the dolphin show. The 3-D show was enjoyable which was "Honey, I
Shrunk the Audience." I won't spoil the fun but let's just say there was lots of surprises at that show.

The next day was a character breakfast at the Grand Floridian. We decided to take a trip to the beach and skip the parks for a day. We went down to Coco Beach for some wave time with the kids.

Our last day at Disney World was a trip back to Magic Kingdom. We wanted to see the parade and fireworks for our last night in Florida. We rode the Speedway and Thunder Mountain again. We enjoyed the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor show and had fun at Space Ranger Spin. The fireworks were fantastic and the parade was very enjoyable.

I never had a chance to go to Walt Disney World as a kid. It was something that I definitely wanted to experience with my kids. I am glad I did. They had a fantastic time as did their parents. I keep getting asked what my favorite ride and park was. My favorite ride was the Rockin Roller coaster. The first 5 seconds. The rest of the ride was too short. My favorite park was Magic Kingdom. It feels like Disney there and I think the kids enjoyed it more as well. The worst experience was Stich's Great Escape. Stupid and stinky.

Would I go back? Not for myself or with other adults. But definitely with my kids. Being with them on this Disney Vacation was well worth the money.