Well we made it safely down to Florida without too much excitement. Bright travels so well in the car and never seems to mind being cooped up for so long. Awesome! On our ride down to Orlando, we decided to take a small detour and visit the Southeast Regional Center of CCI. It's located just northwest of Orlando and (somewhat) along the way to our hotel.
We stopped there and walked inside. I felt bad just walking in without letting them know we were coming through. Normally the campus gives tours on Tuesday afternoons and we were definitely not there on a Tuesday! But we ended up running into the Puppy Program Manager of SE and he said that he would give us a quick tour of the campus. Yay!
The campus is beautiful! It's fun to visit all the regional centers and see how each on differs from another. In SW they don't have nearly as much property as some other regions, but they can spend a lot of time outside training, so the space works well for them. SE looks like a network of different buildings that all seem to meet in the center of campus where there is an amazing gazebo type area.
Everything is spacious and it was great to see how things were done there! We got to watch a bit of a training session going on in one of the training rooms (there was a one-way mirror there!) and saw the dogs getting lunch. There is also a great play yard in the back which has a bunch of agility equipment that was made by a local boy scout troop.
We finally made it to the hotel and checked in, then it was time to get something to eat! Thankfully there was a Cracker Barrel nearby. YUM! Bright was tired and so just stretched out by the table and promptly fell asleep.
We then went and met up with Team Orson and it was off to the parks! Orson had done some talking with the people at Saratoga Springs and he gave Bright a button that reads: 1st Visit. We decided to hit the Magic Kingdom first and hopped on the bus. Yay! Bright's first bus ride! She did so well!
We headed straight for Space Mountain since that's Kimmi's favorite ride. Some of us didn't want to ride, so Orson and Bright went to hang out with them while the rest of us went flying through Space! Seemed like they had a fun time and were getting a lot of attention because they were wearing their booties!
Since I knew that I would be bringing Bright to Disney, I knew that she had to get used to wearing the booties. I started putting them on her a few weeks ago and she took to them so quickly! She does the funny walking for a few steps and then just settles into her normal walk and we are fine.
Afterwards we headed over to the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor. She slept through that....for the most part. I think she got a bit bored and wanted to see what I was up to, so she bothered me for a bit.
I will say this though, she LOVED the Haunted Mansion! No, she didn't go on the ride, but she loved seeing all the stuff that is along the line. She was looking everywhere because she didn't want to miss anything! She was not a big fan of Pirates of the Caribbean though. I guess the drinking and singing was getting to her a bit and she just wanted out of there!
For all the rides we did a puppy/people swap. Some would ride while others would hold the dogs, then we would swap places and the people that held the dogs before got to go on the ride. It seems to work and keeps the dogs happy....and the people too!
We then decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel. It had been a long day.
Day 2: Up and out the door by 8:30ish....yikes! Today we decided to stay in Disney's Hollywood Studios. We headed over to the Tower of Terror and the Rockin' Roller Coaster. The pups stayed behind again and the rest of us had some fun! We then decided that it would be fun to go see the Indiana Jones stunt show. Bright slept through most of the show, but was woken up when they blew something up. She was definitely awake after that! She then had to do a "Lap" so that she could watch the show for a little bit. I have one curious pup!
Then it was time for lunch, then back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation. With the weather so hot, it works well for us to head back to the hotel for a few hours during the hottest part of the day. This lets the dogs (and people) relax and stay out of the sun. Works out well for all of us! The dogs were wiped out at this point and they both just slept. There was a bit of playing, but it was kept to a minimum.
Then it was back to Hollywood Studios again for our dinner reservations at the 50s Prime Time Cafe. When we arrived we realized that the pavement was pretty hot and so the booties went on their paws again!
The people at the restaurant loved the dogs! Again, Bright and Orson just went promptly to sleep and didn't really move much during the meal. After that we headed out to burn some time before we got into line for "Fantasmic". There was a "dance party" going on in the middle of the park and a bunch of the characters were showing up to dance. Apparently Pluto snuck up behind Bright and freaked her out! I wasn't there, but my mom told me that she was quite spooked. I would be too!
I plan on introducing her to a lot more of the costumed characters so that she can become used to them. Should be a fun thing to do!
The line for Fantasmic was incredibly long and there was no way that we were going to be able to get into the theater if we got online at 9:30 for the 10:30 show. Bummer! But it will be playing again on Sunday, so we are going to try and make one of the shows that night.
Now we are back in the hotel. Bright went right into her kennel and passed out again. This dog is definitely tired!
Pictures will be added soon, I just really need to get some sleep. Night everyone!
