Random thoughts/observations from vacation

• It wasn't nearly as bad driving to Florida by myself as I thought it'd be. In fact, I liked it better than riding in the passenger seat the whole way back.
• We rarely waited in line at the parks for longer than 15 or 20 minutes. It appears January is a good time to go.
  
• The counter service food inside the parks was as good as any non-park fast food, and comparably priced.
  
• Eating breakfast at the condo and packing food to snack on during the day saved us from buying a lot of food in the parks. We at out only at dinner.
  
• There were a lot more characters around the parks -- especially Magic Kingdom and Epcot -- than I remember from previous visits.
  
• Fast food in the south really isn't.
  
• I have two of the least daring kids on the face of the Earth.
  
• Doesn't matter where you are, people will always try to push to the front and butt in line, and it's no less annoying just because you're at Disney World.
  
• The roads in and around the Disney property are among the best marked I've ever seen.
  
• I am still amazed that the kids didn't ask to go in any stores or to buy anything unti lthe very last day we were there -- especially since half the rides dump you out into a store or across from a store.
  
• It was fun looking for "hidden Mickeys" around the parks -- next time we'll plan to do that as an actual activity.
  
• I'm definitely glad we waited until J-Mav was "older" to go.
  
• Keeper Boy wouldn't put something back in its correct place, even if it had blinking neon arrows showing him where to put it... and he'll still get mad and blame everyone else when it's lost. (We already knew this, but it was reinforced several times over the course of the week.)
  
• J-Mav can talk to a brick. For hours. About nothing. (We also knew this already...)
  
• One shouldn't need to wear knit hats, gloves, and winter coats in Florida -- even in January!
  
• A minivan seems much smaller with four people in it than with two.
  
• I was surprised to see that gas is much cheaper here in northern Virginia than it was anywhere south of here (in some cases, by 20 cents).
  
• Not everyone who works for Disney is nice and/or helpful. In fact, we ran into a few who were downright rude.
  
• You're never too old for Disney World!