We arrived home safely

Yesterday was a "chill day" in our timeshare.  We swam in the pool and water park. and barbecued for dinner.  We had an unsatisfactory shopping expedition to the Character Warehouse (now off my list of things to do).  I did stop by one of those "Florida Souvenir" stores on Rte 192 and found some kitschy mementos that I distributed to all at dinner. Sadly, I took Laurids to the airport with Rachel.  It was fun having him along this trip.

Today, we left at 5:30 in the morning to get to our 8am flight.  Considering, we were all in pretty good spirits.  The plane ride on Continental was actually fun because the seats were comfortable and we all got to watch movies on individual screens.  I watched "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" which kept me entertained. As we were approaching Newark, Rachel and I discussed the idea of her going to visit her friends since she had a suitcase filled with clean clothes (i.e. we did laundry in our condo last night). She called her friends when we landed and spontaneously left us for a NY visit. I think this will be fun for her.

Colin, Jessica, Yael and I waited for our connecting flight to Hartford.  It was much smaller but we arrived in less than an hour.  It took no time to get our baggage, take the bus to retrieve our car in Long Term Parking Lot 1 and be on our way home.

We stopped off at Cracker Barrel in Holyoke for some breakfast (1:15pm) and we were home by 3.

Jessica and Colin left to go to Burlington to close out their apartment; leaving Yael and me for some quiet time.

Well, dear readers, that's it for this trip.  It was wonderful!!!!!!!!!!

Some Disney Thoughts

Having just completed my sixth visit to Disney, I would like to offer the following thoughts in no particular order:

1. Reading the "Unofficial Guide to Disney" is crucial to learning many of the ins and outs of touring.

2. Animal Kingdom has the better rides -- Everest, Rapids and Safari.

3. Definitely eat in Japan for dinner at Epcot.  Make a reservation as soon as you can.

4. The Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom is expensive ($33/person) but well worth it.  You get all you can eat of some delicious American fare.

5. Sci Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant at Hollywood Studios has great ambiance.  Sandwiches are okay but ribs (apparently) were tasty.

6. The rides at Magic Kingdom are fun. They are a little campy and not as updated as other parks. Splash Mountain is thrilling. Thunder Mountain is really enjoyable.  Even though they updated "it's a small world", I still like singing the song as the boat moves.

7. I like the "Toy Story" ride in the Hollywood Studios better than "Buzz Lightyear" in Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland because it's better organized.

8. Stop off at one of the cheesy souvenir places to buy a rain poncho.  You can buy a vinyl one for $4 which is a little more durable than the plastic bag ponchos we bought at Publix for 99¢.

9. Crash Test at Epcot is worth the wait.

10.  Buy water bottles at Publix.  Freeze one and chill the other each day.

11. Bring lunch in each park so that you can splurge on dinner.  You can get condiments in the parks.

12. The staff in France were pretty rude.

13. Lines form immediately when a character is spotted.

14. Buy one soda and save your cup for refills at other fast food places.

15. The best cold, fresh water can be found at Pirates of Carribean.

16. The turkey legs at Hollywood Studios (on Sunset Blvd.) are really good!

17. Parking at each park is $12.

18. Buy your souvenir when you see it.  Don't bother going to Character Warehouse on International Drive unless you are looking for things from last year.

19.  Donald Duck hats are not made for large heads.

20.  Take the ferry to Magic Kingdom in the morning.  The monorail is good when you leave because there are more of them.

Pix from Magic Kingdom

Just a few photos to give a flavor of the fun we experienced at Magic Kingdom.

Celebrate Today at Magic Kingdom

We completed our fourth park.... Magic Kingdom.  It was fun for everyone.  We got to do everything we set out to do: Walt Disney Railroad, Swiss Famiy Treehouse, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, "it's a small world", Snow White's Scary Adventure, Carousel of Progress, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, the Ferryboat and the Monorail.  We got to see a parade and plenty of characters. For dinner, we ate at Liberty Tree Tavern, which was a wonderful meal to end our Disney tour. Of course we had to deal with some thunderstorms but they did not damper our fun or spirits. 

Over dinner we voted on our favorite park -- Hollywood Studio; our favorite ride -- Everest; our favorite show -- Lights, Motors, Action.   I am confident that we all made some great memories.

Since this was my sixth visit to Disney World, I will offer my insights in a post tomorrow.

We oughta be in pictures....

I took a lot of photos of our adventures at Disney Hollywood Studios.  Here's just a few:

A fun day at Hollywood Studios

We arrived at my favorite park... Disney Hollywood Studios... after a leisurely breakfast. We got to do everything on my list: RIDES: Toy Story Midway Mania, Aerosmith's Rock 'n Roller Coaster (Yael sat this one out but everyone else had a "blast."), Studio Backlot Tour, The Great Movie Ride and Star Tours (actually only Colin, Jessica, Laurids and Rachel did this one); SHOWS: Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show, and, for the sixth time, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.  We caught a little of the High School Musical 3 for Jessica but even she thought it was slightly juvenile. We had fun walking around and seeing the sights. The daily thunderstorm came early today which unfortunately cancelled the parade.  Five minutes after they announced the cancellation, the sun came out with a drop in the temperature. Oh well, there's always the possibility of tomorrow's parade at Magic Kingdom.  I was able to talk our way into the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater for dinner.  We had to sit at two different tables but I think we all enjoyed our meals in the drive-in movie theater motif.  Despite being tired, we went to Downtown Disney to look around but heading back to our timeshare. Sadly, we only have one more park which means this great family vacation is winding down.  But, I think we have created some neat memories.

Pix from Animal Kingdom

Here's a few snapshots of our day at Animal Kingdom.