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.

nahtazu

Leisurely went to Animal Kingdom today. We were all a little tired from yesterday.  I rushed over to get a fast pass for Expedition Everest while everyone else headed to "Dinosaur".  Dinosaur was fun for all.  After the kids went on Primeval Whirl, we went on the Kali River Rapids.  The raft was slightly tilted since we only had eight instead of ten people and Yael and I really got splashed. The water felt good since the day was heating up. While Rachel, Laurids, Jessica, Colin and I used the fast pass for Expedition Everest, Yael got a fast pass for the Kilimanjaro Safaris. Everest was probably one of the best rides I've ever gone on.  Laurids made a movie but you can get a good idea by watching this video on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ABgBTSMm8: We ate our lunches and then went on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail where we saw some hippos, gorillas and other exotic animals. Then, we boarded the Kilimanjaro Safaris.  It is always a fun ride especially seeing the giraffes, rhinos and lion. Rachel, Laurids, Yael and I decided to wait for the parade while Jessica and Colin took the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch and then went on to see the Festival of the Lion King.  Unfortunately, another afternoon thunderstorm cancelled the parade but we had fun sharing the experience.  We decided to grab some dinner from Publix (Barbecue chicken with all the fixin's).  When we got back to the timeshare we chilled for an hour before eating. Dinner conversation was lively and we planned for tomorrow's attack on Disney Studios.  I'll try to post some pictures in a later post since I am off to bed exhausted.

Photos from Epcot

Here are just a few photos from Epcot:

A great day at Epcot

We all got up and had breakfast at the timeshare.  After packing our lunches, we were off to Epcot.  I had everyone running a little in the beginning because I wanted to set up the day.  And, it worked.  We spent five hours touring Future World.  We visited Spaceship Earth, rode to Mars in "Mission Space", drove a vehicle in "Test Track", boarded a clamobile to visit "The Seas with Nemo and Friends", hang glided on "Soarin', and took a boat voyage to see "Living with the Land." (Note: Yael got scared by the warnings on Soarin' and sat it out.  Too bad because she really would have enjoyed it.)

There were a lot of things to see in between including beautiful flowers and sculptures.

Then, after lunch, we headed over to the World Showcase.  A nice boat ride in MEXICO, a Viking voyage, Maelstrom, in NORWAY, a circle vision film in CHINA, dinner in JAPAN and a show in THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE.  We finished the night with the fireworks display, ILLUMINATIONS.

We had to wait out a thunder storm between NORWAY and CHINA and it rained a little during the fireworks. But, all in all a beautiful weather day.

We found some nice souvenirs -- wedding "Mickey" ears for Brannigan and Ray's upcoming honeymoon to Disney and 2009 graduate "Mickey" ears for Jessica.

I should mention that Yael has been keeping track of her "steps".  At SeaWorld she took 14,000 (about 5.6 miles) but at Epcot, 20,000 (about 8 miles).  

We are all tired but looking forward to another fun day tomorrow when we visit Animal Kingdom.

Pictures to follow in later post.

Hello Shamu!

Got up today and headed to Sizzler for a real Floridian buffet breakfast.  Then, we were off to Sea World.  Had a really good time taking in the shows -- Shamu, Clyde & Sea More (sea lions) and enjoying the incredible fish.  We got to seat in the splash zone at both shows but somehow escaped getting splashed. While eating lunch we took in a show that featured a number of exotic animals including a wallaby.   We all enjoyed our walk through the penguin and shark exhibits.  Only thing we weren't able to do was go on any of the rides since the crowd swelled. Rachel and Jessica bought hats.  The weather cooperated.

After eight hours, we decided to leave SeaWorld and check in at our Liki Tiki timeshare.  Good thing we left when we did since we drove through an incredible rain storm with lightening and thunder. A problem with our rooms took a while to figure out but we set for dinner at Houlihans.  Dinner conversation included many topics including plans for Epcot tomorrow and a shopping excursion to Publix Supermarket to stock up on breakfast and lunch items.

All in all a good day with six adults sharing a desire to have fun.