We took Ben back to Disney World last week to see what it's like during the holiday season.

It was our first time flying Southwest Airlines. I hadn't realized beforehand that they don't give seat assignments, so for a while I was worried about how this general admission policy would work. But it turned out okay -- we didn't have to suffer through general admission as we got to pre-board with Ben. Without this perk, I'm not sure I'd fly them again. However, the seats on Southwest's planes seem to be roomier than those of other airlines, which Ben's mom and dad greatly appreciated.

After our arrival at Orlando's airport (and some confusion about taking its tram to the main terminal -- Ben's dad forgot a lot since he was last there in 2000), we tried out the new Disney Magical Express service. Big coach busses pick you up at the airport and deliver you to directly to your Disney World resort, automatically taking care of all your checked-in baggage, and all for free! This worked out nicely and we'll probably use it again on future trips, if we fly again. We drove during our 2003 and earlier 2006 visits, but traffic on that route is terrible.

Since we were only staying for three nights, we splurged on a moderately priced resort rather than a value one like All Star Movies where we took Ben and Drew last April. This time we stayed at the wonderful Port Orleans French Quarter.... a festive place made even more so with all the Christmas decor. And you can get fresh beignets there almost any time you want!

We quickly checked in, then took a boat ride down the Sassagoula River to the Downtown Disney area which is comprised of Disney Village Marketplace (lots of places to shop), Pleasure Island (restaurants, nightclubs -- I had lots of fun there in the 1990s, but now it seems curiously lifeless), and West Side (movies, more restaurants and shops). We wanted to dine at the House of Blues, where we ate on our wedding night in 2003, so we hoofed it all the way from where the port was on the far East side to the HOB way over on the far West side. Since it was about 4:30 p.m., there was no waiting and we got seated immediately. However, I was put off a little (okay, a lot)because they didn't seat us in the main room.... they put us in the back, in the bright windowy area next to the river. Okay, most people would probably prefer this, but I expected to sit in the main room and kept wondering why we were the only ones sitting back there... I got over it once this back area starting filling up and the sun set.

The food was expensive, but good. Ben had a whole pizza to himself which he couldn't eat.... I had some kind of chicken thing.... The main thing I remember is that we got the wonderful white chocolate banana bread pudding dessert we had before, back in 2003 (and which I first had with Wil and Michelle in New Orleans back in 2000 -- another nod to the Crescent City). After this, we slowly made our way back to our arrival point, checking out stores and letting Ben try on pirate stuff and seeing Santa Claus for the first time... fun. Then back on the boat to the hotel and crashing early for the night (although I did sneak away for a bit to check out nearby Port Orleans Riverside). We noted that in once day Ben got to ride a car, a plane, a tram, a bus, and a boat.... pretty cool.

Our first full day, as always for me, was devoted to Epcot... The bus ride from French Quarter was a little annoying since the same bus also serves four stops at Riverside, so it took a little while longer to get there... no big deal. Since Epcot is the largest of the four main parks, it never gets too crowded, and this time of the year made it even more enjoyable. We actually got there just a few minutes after it opened, making me happy. After a quick stop at the character greetings area to see Mickey-Pluto-Goofy-Minnie-Chip-Dale, we headed straight to the new Living Seas with Nemo & Frends attraction, which was a lot of fun. Checked out Turtle Talk with Crush (which we skipped in April), and it was wonderful. The audience is seated in a room with Crush, who appears in a tank on the other side of a glass window, and he interacts with several audience members in real time... truly astounding... because he's a computer-generated image, just as he appears in the movie, so how do they do it....?

Then back to some regular rides.... Soarin', which Tiffany loves (Ben and Jerry sat this out and had ice cream together -- hey, I'm just realizing how ironic this is!), Journey Into Imagination with Eric Idle and Figment (after which we sent e-mail photo cards to Tiff's family -- I couldn't remember any of my friends or family's addresses), the rest stop with free samples of unique Coke products from around the world, then Jerry's solo ride on Mission to Mars while Tiff and Ben shopped. This Mission to Mars ride opened a couple of years ago as the most intense Disney ride ever -- in fact, a couple of people have died after riding it(!), so they now have a regular version as well as a toned-down version which doesn't end with the deadly spin. I chose the toned-down version, which was a good decision as the lines for the deadly version were much longer(!) It was a pretty unmemorable, really... I'll probably never ride it again. We met back at the store (where I got a cool sweatshirt) and skipped Test Track and the other rides on that side of the park.... Tiffany was getting hungry, and I was determined to eat in Mexico...!

So around noon, we headed to the "bigger half" of Epcot, the World Showcase consisting of elaborately themed pavilions representing various countries from around the world which encircle a lake. Don't know why, but I always take a clockwise route, which starts us off at Mexico. I was determined to spend lots of time here, since in April we barely peeked in as we thought we'd return later in the day. I like this Mexican pavilion since it is the only one that is almost all indoors, giving the illusion that it is located in an outdoor riverside village marketplace at night. But since Ben had fallen asleep at the store, we decided to wait to go in, and just grab a quick lunch at Cantina de San Angel on the lakeside. After Ben awoke, we checked out the pavilion proper and it was as pleasant as I remembered it. There is a nice, underappreciated little ride called El Rio del Tiempo which is due to be overhauled next year, so I made sure to enjoy it as is one last time. Soon after we left the building and got dessert at nearby Norway, we came back to Mexico and ran into Donald Duck... a chance character encounter that was one of our favorites.

Back to Norway (and another ride), China, Germany, Italy, the American Adventure (with Santa and Mrs. Clause), Japan, Morocco, France (with those damn acrobatic street performers who like to balance stacked chairs and harass people)(and where I always get the wonderful Napoleon dessert), the United Kingdom (where we usually run into Winnie the Pooh and Friends), Canada, and then back to the U.K. to eat fish and chips.

Nearing 6 p.m., we rode Spaceship Earth near the park entrance, then made our way back to where the Future World half meets the World Showcase for Mickey's Chistmas tree lighting ceremony. Pretty! As for other Christmasy stuff besides this musical extravaganza and all the decor, they also had a celebrity-narrated candlelight processional ceremony on the other side of the lake which we skipped (so we didn't get to see Mario Lopez -- big deal!) and people dressed as Christmas or holiday-related characters from around the world... we saw some of these in Mexico and America and the U.K. and Canada. After the tree lighting, we went the counter-clockwise route back through World Showcase to see if it looked any different at night. Few if any of the holiday lights were lit yet, so it wasn't anything special.

Left the park, bus back to the hotel, bed at a decent time (oh... after signing and faxing back an offer on our house for sale!), up at a decent time.... ready to spend an exciting day at the original Disney World park... the Magic Kingdom! All went well, the bus was crowded, but our arrival was imminent, and then.... poor Ben upchucked all over his momma.... It scared us, and horrified those nearby, but they all quickly got off as we arrived at the park entrance. All but us... we made the driver change his plans and take us back to the hotel, where we waited.... to see if Ben was feeling worse or feeling better. Unfortunately, he seemed to pick up the same bug his brother had a few days earlier.... A fever and puny and, later, more vomiting.

Tiff and Ben ended up staying in that hotel room all day. By mid afternoon when it became obvious that we would have to wait it out like we did with Drew, Tiff encouraged me to go ahead to Magic Kingdom anyway and enjoy the few remaining hours it was open. So I did! Okay, I didn't like how this came about, but I had no trouble going back to my old commando-tourist mode... and I got to ride Splash Mountain (my favorite), which I wouldn't have done if Ben were with us. I had my churro with chocolate sauce, rode Haunted Mansion, had lunch at that Pinocchio themed place where I remember eating with my parents and sisters back in 1977, and just walked around and stuff. It was okay! An unusal experience, but fun anyway. All the Christmas stuff was mostly isolated to Main Street, and they decided not to do the Christmas Country Bears show this year which disappointed me, but I feel I got my money's worth anyway.

Back to the hotel to check on Ben and Tiff, then off to Downtown Disney to see a silly movie (Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny) and do last minute shopping (Mickey Christmas cards). Boat ride back to the hotel, get Tylenol Infant Drops at the gift shop, go to bed relatively early again... and try to sleep in. Thankfully, Ben was pretty much back to his old self in the morning. We all had a nice breakfast at the food court, checked out the resort's playground, and then checked out ourselves. Back on the Disney Magical Express, back to the airport and the tram and a shop and McD's and the plane and the van and then home...!