Disney World was awesome. Loved it. It was crazy, hot, high-powered, intense, humid, crowded, but fun. I don't know how to describe it. The hotel was fun, and swimming was great. The crowds were rude though. If the basic instinct of people can be exposed just by waiting in lines and trying to grab seats or fit through a door, I'm afraid what would happen in a catastrophe like Katrina.

Other than that though, the people were great because they loved the magic and delight that comes with Disney. Orlando has a very strong vacation and laid back feel to it.

Some interesting differences between Disney and Universal though. I thought these were interesting.

Dress - negative points for Disney on this one. I was surprised that the kids at Universal studios were much more modestly dressed and covered up. I mean dang, freakin teen girls running around in bikinis all over the place at Disney or just very skimpily dressed. They took the California Gurl song to heart and actually wore daisy dukes with bikinis on top.

People - the Brazilian groups at Disney CROWDED the crap out of it. There were millions of them. They also had weird chants going on and would randomly burst out in clapping. Oddly they were probably 80% girls. Cheer camp? Dunno, but there were few guys. The crowd at Universal felt slightly older. More families at Disney it seemed. Also, EVERYONE'S SO freakin tan. I have actually fell in love with that. Helps that Jim's love interest in the Office in the season where I'm at is also a tan cutie.

Environment/Presentation - Universal Studios definitely has a different feel than Disney. Disney entrance - greeted by a fun, springy Disney-ish song and the Disney characters. Universal Studios entrance - Toxic by Britney Spears. yep. It also seemed like the park people generally seemed less cheery than the Disney workers. i don't know what it is. Maybe its the water. Which brings me to my next point.

Water - the water in Florida tastes like it all comes from the pool. Ewgh. On another interesting note, Universal Studios actually has cold water, unlike Disney.

Cooling - Universal Studios air conditioning sucks.

Cleanliness - Universal Studios was less clean than Disney. Maybe that's what was irking the workers. The bathrooms were less cleanly kept (i only know about the men's restrooms, nothing about the girls), toilet paper rolls were either messy or not even in the dispenser thingies.

Highlights

- my dad almost getting into a fight with this one guy about bus seating with me trying to hold them both back. I mean, this guy was stocky, not big, but wide, and easily over 200 lbs. not a lot, but keep in mind that between me and him there is at least a 60 lb weight difference. I think I could have still taken care of him. ... if he wasn't standing so close to me....and if he didn't have his buddy behind him....and if I was Chuck Norris. Good thing nothing happened, cooler heads prevailed. But the bus ride home will be remembered as one of the most tense, awkward, and embarrassing moments in my life. However, I am glad to say that I learned from this sad experience: that under this high intensity situation I remained calm and did not panic, I actually tried to stop things from getting out of hand, and I was able to actually think pretty clearly.

- Having 8 rides delayed on us, 4 by my own dad. *facepalm*

- Hollywood Rip Ride Coaster, the Hulk coaster, the Rock N' Roller, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Finding Nemo musical, Fear Factor Live, the stunt racing, the Yeti ride in Animal Kingdom, the scarier than I thought Dinosaur ride, the Mummy ride,

- being owned constantly by wave after wave of brazilian crazies, jam-packing every ride. They actually visually increased the waiting time of the Shrek 4D line by 10 minutes. They were young, loud, and everywhere. I have never seen so many blonde brazilians in my life, nor so intimidated (you can't avoid eye contact when you're the same height as them. I hate that), nor so excited because they were so excited.

- spending the most time at a japanese store in Epcot. Who knew they had so much asian merchandise? and who knew we would fly several thousand miles east to spend time at an asian store?

- making tons of jokes about dying and the ways one could die on a roller coaster when the hollywood rip ride coaster was delayed by 30 minutes. My personal favorite; having the roller coaster abruptly stop at the top of a fast ascent as the safety bar flings up, hurtling the rider upward into the sky where he breaks in the window of an airplane as the airplane crash lands into an airport a la Saint Barthélemy Airport style.

Overall I enjoyed Disneyworld slightly more than Universal Studios. I already miss both places. As a result, I now want an internship in Florida. Or Brazil. haha.