Archive for May, 2007

My, how plans change! Well, we didn’t make it back to the Magic Kingdom on Friday. In fact, we didn’t get to any park Friday. Right after checking out, the kids decided they wanted to head straight for Daytona Beach. The original plan was to go to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours and then head east.

But once they heard “beach” it was over. So we headed east. We drove for about two hours and found a hotel right on the beach. The weather was a little rough for beaching it, with an awful lot of wind and somewhat chilly temperatures. But the kids got to play in the water and in the sand. That was nice.

We walked along the beach and entered a shopping plaza where we saw Shrek the Third. The kids had a good time.

Now we are back home and are trying to get settled back in. I am sorting through the 448 pictures I took and will try to post the best ones to flickr. I also have about four hours of video to examine and edit. I am waiting (impatiently) for Pinnacle to release Studio version 11. And then I can make DVD’s.

One more stat that I think is funny: We have driven to Disney World twice in the Jeep, which now has 71,065 miles. Well, from my house, Disney is a round trip of 1,792 miles. Meaning that 3,584 of those 71,065 miles are from Disney trips alone. So, 5% of our driving in the Jeep has been to Disney World. One out of every 20 miles driven belongs to a Disney trip. Freaky.

Well, it’s nice to be home, but I always feel empty and lost after returning from a vacation. I hate to see them end. I always work on a list of things to look forward to when coming home. I have three things on it, and one is done. Of course, I can still work on Photoshopping some images before Studio 11 comes out!

I always feel a little guilty about going “off-site” to visit Universal Studios when I stay at a Disney resort. It’s like I’m saying “Yes, what you all do at Disney is just great, but I feel the need to spend extra money and go out of my way to ride these rides.”

Anyway, with SpongeBob and Shrek involved, Universal was a must-see. My kids are 8 and 5, so SpongeBob is like a third child to me. I must admit I was a little disappointed when I learned about the demise of the “Nickelodeon Studios” at Universal. I knew way back when I ordered tickets that it no longer existed, and that area is now used for the upcoming “Blue Man Group” shows. But it still sucked.

One thing I didn’t know until today that did bum me out: The “Back to the Future” ride is closed. Something else is being built there that will open in 2008. The “Back to the Future” store is still open, toy cars are still sold in the Universal Store, Doc Brown still drives around the park, and the theme song still plays throughout the park, so I hope the new ride revolves around BTTF in some way, but I wouldn’t bet on it. I may look into this more when I get home, so y’all may know more about the ride’s status than me.

[Update: Wikipedia says that the "Back to the Future" ride was closed on March 30, 2007. The area is being re-used to create a new Simpsons ride. Yuck.]

Anyway, on to the good stuff: Jimmy Neutron ride: Cool! Shrek 4-D: Same as Shrek 3-D DVD I already have, but with way-cooler effects. I rode MIB: Alien Attack for the first time ever. My score was 35,675. Not great. But still fun. Twister, Earthquake, Terminator 2 3-D, Jaws, are among the past favorites I’ve enjoyed, and still do. We had a good time today…

Ryan got his face painted and the kids met Shrek and Fiona (who reminded us to see the new Shrek movie, which starts tomorrow). They also met Bullwinkle, who they were introduced to for the first time, ever. Funny to think my own kids no nothing of Bullwinkle and Rocky. “Hey Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!” Oh, well. Need to look for classic DVD’s.

We did a couple of the kiddie rides in the Kidzone, but most of our time was spent either waiting in line or riding rides. Oh, we also saw the “Animal Actors” show at 5:00 today. Not bad, but short.

Tonight is our last night on Disney property. Tina says I look like I’ve lost my best friend! She knows I hate the end of vacations! We still have one more day of tickets to use tomorrow and we’re thinking about going back to the Magic Kingdom since that’s where the kids had the most fun. Plus, they haven’t met many characters, so we can do that at Mickey’s Toontown Fair.

Today was dedicated totally to Epcot. That wasn’t originally the plan. We were planning a morning there with a return trip to MGM in the afternoon to finish some of the movie rides we didn’t get to yesterday. But we just totally got caught up in Epcot. And we didn’t really get to do all we wanted there either…

I should point out that the crowds have generally been pretty light at all the parks. Mostly we’ve only waited 10-15 minutes for rides. We experienced our longest wait of the trip today, waiting for Soarin’, one of Disney’s newest rides. We waited almost an hour for that one. But it was great! That ride was probably the highlight of the day.

Spaceship Earth was entertaining as usual, except I see that Siemens has taken over sponsership from AT&T. We walked around World Showcase and visited a few countries. I like the UK, and things are pretty authentic there. The tea shop was full of British candy favourites, and the smell of fish and chips was quite pervasive. I grabbed a Flake and an Aero bar while I could! Mexico was fun as well. We rode the Gran Fiesta Tour, which was a boat ride that was longer than it seemed it would be (a good thing). We went through the “Universe of Energy” which consists of a 37-minute ride through Ellen DeGeneres’ worst nightmare (assisted by Bill Nye the Science Guy). Going through “The Seas with Nemo and Friends” adventure at Epcot was more than expected. There is really an entire aquarium in that building and it was great. The kids had a blast! I liked riding through the Imagination Institute rides, like Figment and “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.” I think my favorite rides are the 3-D movie rides, sometimes with live people bopping around a stage… So I’ll enjoy tomorrow: We’re headed to Universal Studios.

I’ve been to Epcot three times and each time Mission: Space and Test Track have still evaded me. We’ve been trying to maximize the fun for the kids, so some of the grown-up rides will have to wait.

Today was a double-park day. There’s so much to see and so little time… First off was Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom is NAH-TA-ZU. But it really is kinda like a zoo. It’s very spread out. We really only did a few things here, and the most fun was the Kali River Rapids. We got soaked! We also took the African safari, saw “It’s Tough To Be A Bug,” and rode some rides in DinoLand USA. It was quite hot today, and we did a lot of walking. We ate at a McDonald’s near DinoLand. We headed back to the hotel just before the parade and took a dip in the pool. It really helped cool us off before heading to Disney-MGM Studios. Again, so much to see and so little time! We did “Star Tours” for the first time. That ride looks pretty dated. I don’t know how old it is, but it looks like it’s been the same since the 80′s. We got to do Muppet Vision 3-D which was probably the funniest ride we’ve ridden since we’ve been here. Well, the Laugh Floor was great too. In the little time we had we decided to see the Narnia exhibit (I wouldn’t call it a ride) at MGM. It was nice and interesting to see some of the movie props and costumes. But the best part was waiting in line. Yes, that’s right. Waiting in line. While waiting and chatting with the Disney Cast members they handed us a couple of post cards and a Playhouse Disney preview DVD. I have to say that almost every Disney cast member I’ve seen has been absolutely perfectly curteous and has made us feel so welcome. A+ for all of them.

The night ended with Fantasmic, a fantastic magical show full of fireworks, movies, music, fire and special effects. Really a great way to end the day.

Day two at Disney and we’ve just returned from the Magic Kingdom. Wow, what a show! The Magic Kingdom defines Disney like no other park. Cinderella’s Castle is an iconic piece of Americana, the symbol of Disney. As the kids are a little older this time, we stayed for the entire day – a first for us. (Usually, we break the day down into morning and evening sessions. Keeps the kids from weirding-out on us.) Anyway, we had perfect seats for the “SpectroMagic” parade and the new “Wishes” firework show. We sat right beneath Cinderella’s Castle. Awesome! Actually seeing the fireworks shoot over the castle (like they do at the beginning of every Disney flick) was incredible.

Anyway, Ryan and Allison received their first ever “Magical Moment” today – a “Chocolate Dream.” I got it on video, but basically, a Disney cast member stopped us right after we bought some candy at a candy store and allowed the kids to pick out a silver chocolate coin. They also got certificates commemorating the event. That was so nice and so unexpected. We also got a little treat a bit later when chatting with a Disney cast member at the entrance to “Peter Pan’s Flight.” He asked us where we were from and how we were enjoying ourselves. He asked the kids if they were having fun, and they politely answered. He informed us that the wait time was now 45 minutes-not the 30 displayed on the board. We said that was fine, no problem. We would wait it out. We chatted a bit more about the weather, where we were from, etc. and right as we stepped up to pass him, he handed me 4 FastPass tickets for the ride. He said “Just take these to Don over there, and he’ll let you right through.” He also said “I’ve been trying to start up conversations all day with people, and they just nod and walk on. If they only knew… I like to reward the smiles.” How cool is that? So there’s Tip #1… “Go to Disney with a smile on your face.”

I have to say that two other things stuck with me today. First off, the “Mickey’s Philharmagic” ride. Tina and I did this one in 2003, basically right after it opened, but it was the kids’ first turn. The 3D effects are incredible, and the sounds and smells aren’t bad either! Anyway, the ride ends with Donald Duck taking a bad fall through the back wall behind the audience. This prompted Ryan to seriously ask me if I thought Donald was all right. “I hope he is OK,” he said…

On a final note, we rode a lot more rides in Tomorrowland than we had in the past, simply because the kids are older now and can ride them. I really enjoyed the “Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor.” I love the improv feel it has, and the cool way the on-screen characters talk directly to the audience. I love how the characters have these fully-expressive faces and can jump up and down on the screen. COOL!

We rode the “Carousel of Progress” for the first time today, and the story really stuck with me tonight. It’s amazing to think about the technological changes that have taken place in just the last 100 years. (He says as he pounds this out on a 3-inch screen with keyboard.) The truly amazing part, though, is that the population keeps thinking “They’ll never make it” (Wright brothers, Lindbergh) or that things simply can’t get any better than they are now (indoor plumbing, solid-state electronics, transportation, etc.). It all starts with a man and a dream. Of course, sometimes it helps to have a magical mouse up your sleeve as well…

Well, we got here with no trouble. After worrying about the fires and I-10 and I-75 closings, we were quite concerned. We got here a little early, so we “pre-registered” and got room keys without a room. (I called back later and got a number.) In the meantime, we found a Target and ate lunch at Pizza Hut.

After checking into the All-Star Music resort and getting settled in, we headed down to the pool. The All-Star resorts may be the “value resorts” but they are probably the most “kid friendly.” Giant themed rooms, buildings and pools make you feel as though you never leave the parks. During this particular trip, the main “guitar pool” is closed, so we swam in the “piano pool” instead.

After our swim, it was off to Downtown Disney and DisneyQuest. DisneyQuest is an Interactive Indoor Theme Park, with rides and activities for all ages. The one thing here I was looking forward to was CyberSpace Mountain. Tina and I have done it before and I really wanted the kids to take a turn. Unfortunately, Ryan was too small to ride, so we skipped it. There was still plenty to do, but missing the signature ride was a disappointment. Overall, DisneyQuest is a lot of fun, but a little pricey, especially for young ones under 10 who may not be able to ride every ride.

The WDW Transportation System is the best way to get around down here. The buses pick you up at your hotel, take you to any park, and will return you to your hotel at any time throughout the day. On this night, we ended up trying to leave Downtown Disney the same time as the Magic Kingdom closed, so we waited quite a while for a bus.

Overall, it was a fun first day at Disney World. We are staying in the “Broadway” themed section of the All-Star Music Resort. Very large hats and canes are hanging right outside our window. Freaky.

Well, it’s just about time to head south for a week. We’re heading to Disney World tomorrow. I am always anxious before traveling on a long journey like this. I would just like to “be there” and not have to “get there.”

We’ll be packed in the car for 10 hours on Saturday, and 5 hours on Sunday. We’ve got plenty of things to keep the kids busy on the ride down, including a few Nicktoon/Shrek movies to plug in to the Gameboy and some Disney CD’s. That should keep them quiet. For a couple of minutes.

The wildfires in Florida and Georgia are very active right now. Hopefully, this will calm down before we get there. It doesn’t look too likely though. We thought for a while we might have to deal with Subtropical Strom Andrea, but it dissipated on Thursday. Usually we hope for a rain-free vacation, but in this case I’ll make an exception. Those people who live in Florida desperately need the rain.