Day Five: Wednesday, 5/4/16 - Walt Disney World

Today's post is going to be a relatively short one. The reason behind this is the fact that we are going to try to make it to Animal Kingdom today (Thursday) as early as possible. But first, a quick summary of yesterday, Wednesday, 5/4/16.

Our plans for yesterday included plans to visit Animal Kingdom. However, there were some pretty severe thunderstorms in the morning and, after we saw that the forecast in the morning called for rain up until 6pm, we decided that skipping Animal Kingdom for the day would be fine. We were totally okay with this mainly because we had built in two off days in our original plans so our off day, which was scheduled for Thursday, got shifted to Wednesday. But, despite the fact that we got some much needed rest and relaxation, it really wasn't an "off" day because during breakfast, we all kind of decided that we should add one more days' worth of tickets so we could visit Hollywood Studios. I'm so glad we did.

The forecast called for the rain to end around 5:00 but, around 6:30 it was still raining pretty steadily. But that was okay because we were had ponchos and we were able to still stay fairly dry. Also, when it's rainy like that at a theme park, you kind of get excited about going inside buildings and seeing shows so we watched MuppetVision 3D, which I still find very funny and entertaining. We also saw the Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

Of course the rides at Hollywood Studios are all pretty much indoors so we really had an awesome time. I think it was enjoyable mainly because this was our second time visiting the park this trip so, we didn't have any of the self-imposed pressure of "we gotta do this" or "we haven't done that yet! We have to do that or trip won't be complete!" (None of us actually said these things. Just exaggerating.)

Anyway, all in all, a very good time. Some quick things I'll record here for memories' sake: When we arrived for Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Lily held her magic band up to the terminal and it accepted it before she got the okay from the cast member. I think she was afraid she'd done something wrong but, the cast member very sweetly asked Lily to help her open the chain so we could go in. It was very cute.

Sophie got to ride Rock n' Roller Coaster again, this time with Joy, Caleb, and Molly. Lily and I waited over near the American Cafe (I think that's the name. I'll correct this if it's wrong). After that, we rode The Tower of Terror and that was great as usual. Not for Sophie, though. I think she honestly got a little sick to her stomach so I'm glad she didn't end up proving it to us by actually getting sick.

After that, we went and got our pictures taken with Kylo Ren amidst all of the hardcore Star Wars fans (it was May the Fourth, after all), so that was kind of cool. To end the evening, we hung out in the main roadway and watched the Symphony in the Stars which is really just great fireworks set to Star Wars music and quotes.

Well, we are just about off to Animal Kingdom. Hopefully, I will get up early enough tomorrow for some updates.

Before I go, here's some highlights from yesterday:

Joy gets a signature from her favorite Disney character.

Sophie and Lily waiting on the Symphony in the Stars to begin

On our way to Hollywood Studios!

We're both looking at the lens!

Dinner at Everything Pop

Dinner at Everything Pop

Day Four: Tuesday, 5/3/16 - Walt Disney World

Tuesday, May 3rd was our day at Epcot. We got a fairly early start after having a light breakfast in our room and headed down to the Disney Transportation System pick-up area. Or, in layman's terms: the bus stop.

We didn't make rope drop but we still arrived at the Epcot gates at a very reasonable hour. After going through the bag check process, we went to the character meet and greet to see Mickey, Goofy, and Minnie. Along the way, we saw a line of people waiting to get their pictures taken with Pluto, one of Joy's favorite characters. But, we made a very common mistake and said, "We'll do that later." Naturally, we didn't but, the character interaction with Minnie, Goofy, and Mickey was still very good.

After the character meet n' greet, we got in line for Spaceship Earth. I rode with Caleb, Joy rode with Lily, and Molly rode with Sophie. We've been on the ride several times before but I still enjoy it, if only for the cool settings and practical effects that Disney employs on there.

Joy and Lily on Spaceship Earth

The silly video that plays near the end of Spacsehip Earth

A little while later, we headed over to the Electric Umbrella to have lunch. The upstairs dining area was open but we opted to sit outside. I'm glad we did because the temperature was very comfortable and there was a nice breeze. Plus, we got to hear the Epcot area fountain-view music that I love so much. A few years ago, we ate outside at the Electric Umbrella and the birds that hung around outside were a bit of a nuisance. In fact, one of them took a french fry right out of Caleb's fingers--and he wasn't even trying to feed it! He was literally holding a french fry with the intention of eating it and the bird kind of flew up and took it! This time, Caleb saw one of the birds (not sure what kind) pick up food from the ground and feed it to another, larger bird. I'm no ornithologist and I'm really not familiar with Florida birds at all but, this really puzzled Caleb and me. We were wondering, why is this seemingly adult bird feeding the other, larger bird? Truly deserving of some cursory internet research.

Lunch at the Electric Umbrella

After lunch, we rode Test Track. We all enjoyed creating our cars and then seeing how they "performed" during the ride. The car that Caleb and I (mostly Caleb) designed was pretty cool and did pretty well. The cars that Joy and Lily, and Molly and Sophie designed were appropriately funky and fun.

Joy and Lily's Car

Sophie and Molly's Car

The Car Caleb and I created

We headed over to the Seas area and rode The Seas with Nemo and Friends. This ride is simple and cute and includes some music from the Finding Nemo the Musical, an excellent production that still runs over at the Animal Kingdom.

Since we were already there, we spent some time at the Seas area and looked at some manatees, a diver in the aquarium with a HUGE stingray, and we saw a diver enter the lockout tank.

A clown fish at The Seas (a.k.a. Nemo)

The diver is in the lockout tank.

Leaving the Seas behind, we went over to the Land.

The whole Land area really used to be a very busy location. Always, there were crowds outside, crowds of people inside, and so many people eating at Sunshine Seasons that the place really felt alive. This time, though, it was very different. Not empty, to be sure, but definitely not the crowded area we were used to. Joy and I both attribute this to one thing: Soarin' is currently closed. Set to reopen this summer, Soarin' always had crazy lines and, unless you had a fast pass, you would easily be waiting over an hour to ride it. And rightfully so, because I think Soarin' was an awesome experience. I hope the revamp of the ride maintains the secret recipe that made it such an amazing attraction to begin with.

At least the sign is still there.

After we left the Land area, we saw what looked like storm clouds approaching so we decided that we needed to seek out another attraction that was indoors. (Also, the butterfly garden was closed and that was one of Sophie and Lily's must-do's.) So, Journey into Imagination was the solution.

Joy and I rode Journey into Imagination when we first visited the park back in 1996 and I really didn't remember anything at all about the ride, other than the music (thanks Subsonicradio!) and the fact that we found it boring. I know, I know. That isn't nice but, since I didn't visit Epcot as a child in the 1980's, I never grew attached to Figment or this attraction. Still, it's a cute ride.

After Journey into Imagination, Molly, Caleb, and I went to Fountainview--which doubles as a Starbuck's--and got a couple of drinks. We met Joy at the playground and we were able to visit the butterfly garden (I probably have this out of order so, Caleb or someone can correct me).

At the butterfly garden

The Phineas and Ferb: Agent P's World Showcase Adventure was something that Caleb was really looking forward to doing. Quite honestly, I was looking forward to it too so, we were all pretty disappointed when we saw the "recruitment" station already closed at 5:30pm, even though the signage clearly showed it open until 6pm. But, as we were coming out of the playground area, Caleb could see a cast member opening the little kiosk area back up so we headed on over there and signed up. 

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Disney has updated the phones they use for this experience from older flip phones to smart phones. Also, you can use your own device to go on the Adventure. I almost used one of Disney's devices for the experience but decided against it when the cast member told me that if you use one of their devices, the experience times out after 10 minutes of inactivity. Using your own device has no time-out limit. Knowing that we have six people in our family with different interests, I decided to use my own phone.

This worked out great. We were able to do the mission in the UK and in France. After that, we decided to take a break and restart in Mexico since that was where we were going to eat dinner. Unfortunately, when I gave Caleb the phone in the Mexican pavilion, the "quit" icon was accidentally selected rather than continue. Caleb was extremely disappointed at this and so was I. But, at least we did get to solve a couple of missions.

Speaking of the Mexican pavilion, Joy's plan was to eat at the outside, quick service restaurant, La Cava del Tequila and watch Illuminations from there. When we finally got there after 7:30 (later than planned), we saw that a lot of other people had the exact same idea. In fact there was absolutely no where to sit and eat. Thankfully, though, it took a ridiculously long time to get our food and, by the time I picked our trays up, we Joy and the kids had found a table.

After dinner, Lily had to use the bathroom so Joy took her and Molly, Caleb, Sophie, and I waited just outside the cool Mexican pyramid, listening to the countdown to Illuminations. Joy and Lily came out of the bathroom just in time for us all to enjoy watching the show.

After Illuminations, we rode the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros. I love that ride. It is so simple and laid back. Kind of like It's a Small World, only with WAY better music and theming.

 Love this ride. That's an order, not a comment.

Sophie and Lily, pre-fight formation

Singing their song

Leaving the Mexican Pavilion, we decided to ride Test Track one last time and I'm glad we did. Riding that at night was totally worth it.

For the return home trip, we were able to get on the first bus back to Pop Century, even though we had to stand. Thankfully, Sophie was able to sit right away and before we left the parking lot, a lady gave up her seat so that Lily could sit. Sophie fell asleep quickly on the bus and Lily asked me, "Can I take a nap? My eyes are shutting down." I thought that was so cute! And she did fall asleep, if only for the fifteen minute ride back to our resort.

Well, that was probably way too detailed but, as I write this post this Wednesday morning, there's been a crazy thunderstorm going on. In fact, it's supposed to storm pretty much until at least 1:00 today. We were supposed to go to Animal Kingdom today and then take tomorrow off but, it's looking like we're taking today off and going there tomorrow. So glad we built some "off" days into our schedule.

Until tomorrow...

Day Three: Monday, 5/2/16 - Walt Disney World

Yesterday was our "off" day, which means we didn't go to any theme parks. Instead, we just hung around the resort, played in the pool, and saw some sights. So, I hate to use the word "off" because it sort of implies that going to the parks is some sort of work but, after going to the parks, being on your feet all day in the heat, failing to properly hydrate yourself, and then carrying the occasionally sleeping child, it gets very tiring. So, that's why we call these sorts of days our "off" days.

For this off day, we had a nice relaxing late start. We ate breakfast at the Everything Pop dining area here at the Pop Century Resort hotel and it was pretty good (no, I didn't take pictures of our food). After that, we hung out at the pool for a couple hours. Before we went to the pool, I was very careful to apply sunblock to the kids and myself. Somehow, though, I still managed to get sunburned on my shoulders and back--and my scalp, I think. This is probably because the sunblock we used (water babies) is only waterproof for 80 minutes and we were swimming for 2 hours. Oops! I'm probably spending too much time talking about this for too long but, when we first visited Walt Disney World twenty years ago, I got the worst sunburn of my life. That totally changed the way I spend time in the sun--particularly with my shirt off so, I'm a bit overly cautious.

After the pool, we got cleaned up and headed over to the Art of Animation resort, which is just across the Generation Gap Bridge and Hourglass Lake. We walked around for a bit taking pictures of the beautiful theming and cool movie-based sculptures and statues. A couple years ago, we walked around and enjoyed all of The Little Mermaid, Lion King, and Finding Nemo areas. This time, we focused on just the Cars area. In addition to some photo ops, we ate lunch at the Landscape of Flavors dining area.

Some Pictures From The Art of Animation Resort:

 Lover this cool Cars motel sign.

 Lily's blurry but Simba held still pretty nicely for this picture.

 Simba, in the Art of Animation Resort Lobby

 Caleb, keepin' it real in the Art of Animation Resort Lobby.

 The Ink and Paint Shop.

 These girls are always playing. Always.

The Cozy Cone signage.

From the Art of Animation resort we decided to ride the monorail at Epcot so, we hopped a bus and headed on over. The ride on the monorail was neat but uneventful. The particular train we rode on had Zootopia see-through decals on the windows so, it looks pretty cool from the outside. Unfortunately, these sort of decals make for so-so viewing from the inside and horrible photography so, I didn't even pull my camera out once.

From Epcot, we headed over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, just to check it out. Right when we got there, it started raining but, wow, what a beautiful resort! We walked out onto one of the balconies and saw a couple zebras prancing around a few other Animal Kingdom animals in the distance but, we couldn't make them out.

 In the lobby of the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Waiting for the bus at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

We hung out at Animal Kingdom Lodge longer than we expected because we had to wait out the raging thunderstorm outside but, when it finally let up we decided to head back to our resort. So, we hopped a bus for Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney). When we got off the bus at Disney Springs, it was raining pretty heavily so, we were thanking the Lord when we stepped out into the rain after seeing a Pop Century Resort bus coming and, we were even more grateful when we were able to step right onto this virtually empty bus and ride it back to our hotel! All told, it took us over an hour to get to Pop Century from the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Back at Pop Century, we ordered a couple of their seriously very delicious pizzas and called it a night. On the way back to our room, we saw a frog perched on the top of one of the trash cans. Lily happens to like frogs (and all small critters) so, that was a neat treat for her.

Today, we visit Epcot. I'm mentally preparing myself for a lot of walking but this ought to be a nice day for a seemingly strange reason: we don't have a lot of must-do's for this park. But, I'm glad to just go there and see the sights, shops, etc.

More updates to come tomorrow!

Day Two - Sunday, May 1st 2016

Disney's Hollywood Studios was our destination for our second full day in Walt Disney World. Compared to Saturday (our first full day), this was an intentionally late start day but it was nice. We weren't in quite the same kind of rush that were when we were trying to make the rope drop show at the Magic Kingdom.

Heading into this park and knowing about all of the closures of various attractions, I really thought that Hollywood Studios (or MGM, as Joy prefers to call it) had turned into a half-day park. I was wrong. There's still plenty to do and there's actually quite a bit to keep your attention, particularly all of the Star Wars stuff that seems to be going on everywhere. I guess it's mainly limited to the stage area where the Sorcerer Mickey's hat used to be and the Animation courtyard but still, it seems pretty ubiquitous.

Speaking of Star Wars, though, I was really impressed by the Star Wars Launch Bay. This sits in the structure that used to be Disney's Magic of Animation and I went into it thinking it might be similar to the Chronicles of Narnia mini-attraction that was at the Studios back in 2007 but I was totally wrong. This was actually a very cool experience. First, you are treated to a short film about the Star Wars universe. The film is mainly clips of interviews from various producers, directors, artists, etc., that have either worked on the Star Wars films in the past or are working on current Star Wars projects. Oddly enough, George Lucas was not one of the people that was interviewed, although they did show a few clips of him filming the original movie.

Anyway, leaving the movie, there is a small museum of Star Wars ships, costumes etc. When we visited, you could also go on and meet Chewbacca and Kylo Ren (we opted for Chewie). Those queueing lines also had some cool Star Wars paraphernalia and there were television monitors that were displaying Star Wars trivia questions. All very cool.

The coolest part of our experience yesterday in the Launch Bay, though, was meeting the Jawas. These two guys were kind of hanging out in an area that was probably supposed to be Mos Eisely Cantina-esque but what was neat was that they would trade with you. What would they trade? I'm not sure what the rules exactly were but, when I gave Sophie a penny to trade, it was gestured to me that they could not accept actual cash. So, Sophie had the idea of giving them the lid from one of our apple sauce to-go pouches and they inspected it (hilariously) and, in exchange, gave Sophie...a scrubbie sponge. She loved it and thought it was great. Here's a bit of the Jawa decision-making process that I captured while they inspected the apple sauce lid:

Aside from Star Wars, we made it to my favorite attraction: Twilight Zone's Hollywood Tower of Terror. I won't go into detail as to why I think this attraction is still one of the best in Walt Disney World but I will sum it up in word again: theming. In a sort of bittersweet twist, we had fast passes for the ride so I didn't even get to enjoy the theming all that much. But, wow. Still love that attraction.

Just a cool shot of the external exit area of the ride. Also known as the "gift shop".

Didn't do a very good job here but, I was trying to capture the cool area music that I so love around the Tower of Terror:

Naturally, we also rode Toy Story Midway Mania which was a blast. That ride is so simple and, even though I've ridden it before, I used to wonder why it was so popular. But now I've confirmed the reason: this gallery shooting game is just so darn fun! I was also super excited to ride with my son and see this (even though he points out that his accuracy was better than mine. But then, why is "accuracy" at the bottom of the screen? ;-) ):

Now, let's get to the low of the evening and then we can get back to the highs. Rock n' Roller Coaster. Sophie has wanted to ride this since she found out that she was tall enough. Sadly, we didn't get a Fast Pass for it but we figured we wouldn't mind the wait. This is where the dilemma began because this was the first ride of our vacation so far that we couldn't all ride together (Lily's not tall enough yet) so it took some work to settle who was going with whom. Caleb did not want to ride it but Lily wanted to ride Tower of Terror again. I insisted that it would be better to keep the group in even numbers so we didn't have an odd man out on the roller coaster. 

Anyway, Molly and Caleb got in line with Sophie and me for the 60 minute wait. Which turned into a "temporarily closed" wait, to a 110 minute wait, back to a 85 minute wait. During this, I worked out with Joy that when she was off the Tower of Terror, Molly and Caleb could just walk off the Rock n' Rollercoaster in lieu of waiting the whole time. After 40 minutes or so, Joy and Lily got off their ride so Molly and Caleb went to meet them. Sophie and I hung out the whole time in the line and I really enjoyed being with her but, she kept telling me while we were in line, "I have to go to the bathroom!" To which I would reply, "But you just went with your mom! Can you hold it? We've already waited so long!" She repeatedly said, yes, she could hold it but, she was getting kind of danc-ey.

When we finally made it the last line area, when were the VERY NEXT RIDERS to get on, Sophie turned to me and said, "I have to go to the bathroom now! I can't hold it!" She was visibly upset. "Sophie," I said. "We are the very next people to go! Can't you hold it? If we get off now, we won't be able to get back on! It's already been over an hour and a half!" But, she couldn't wait so, I found a cast member and said we had to leave. We took the "chicken door" and I took Sophie to the bathroom.

Now, I really thought this whole "bathroom" thing was a ruse. I really thought she just got scared and didn't want to ride but, she did in fact really want to ride. I'll leave out the unpleasantness but, suffice it to say that Sophie and I ended up riding it a little later. 

Now for the bright side: we saw Fantasmic and had really great seats! It was a really good show and, even though we saw it back in 2007, I couldn't remember much of it. I mean, I remember all of the music but, that's mainly because of our strange obsession with continuously listening to Disney World theme park music.

Anyway, today is our "off" day which just means no theme parks; just pool, resort, and photography.

Hopefully, tomorrow's summary of today's events won't include any strife.

The First Full Day - Saturday, 4/30/16

We spent our first full day in Walt Disney World at the Magic Kingdom and, wow, that really wore me out.

We started our day out early with the goal of making it to the rope drop ceremony, which we did, so that was awesome. Our first stop was to see "talking Mickey" and then Tinkerbell. Both experiences were cool and, I wish I could have taken non-stop pictures in that little room where Mickey was because the attention to detail is just amazing.

After that, we ended up riding the little double-decker bus down Main Street U.S.A. which was also a first time and a very neat first experience.

I don't remember the exact order of all of the rides and attractions we did yesterday and, since Joy is still asleep and I can't verify what I'm forgetting, I'll just hit some highlights:

We rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and, for some reason, Sophie got herself worked up to the point that she did not want to ride it. So, being the loving, understanding, compassionate parents that we are, we forced her to get on. Before you gasp in horror at this, just know that she's ridden it before and she ended up absolutely loving it (again). As soon as the ride was over, she said she wanted to ride it again. I want to mention that there was a cast member working the ride named Rachael that, when she saw Sophie upset, she took the time to squat down and explain to Sophie how the ride would be and that she could totally do it. This was despite the fact that there were people waiting to get on behind us. This cast member took her time to encourage my daughter and it was just very nice to see.

After this, we hit the classic Splash Mountain. This was Lily's first time riding it and she LOVED it. Even though Disney will probably never ever release The Song of the South for anyone to see, ever again, the ride endures. It really is like being inside a cartoon.

I almost forgot to mention that we rode the TTA, or People Mover twice in a row. I know that's not a thrill ride but, it's a classic that our family enjoys.

Well, we've got another busy day ahead of us, this time at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Lily has been talking about riding the Tower of Terror since the moment we got here so I really hope she likes it.

I will leave you now with a few highlights, or pictures/videos I took with my phone. The stuff on my camera will have to wait to be processed in Lightroom. I will probably write another post sometime that gives more details (like how crazy Sophie and Lily acted during Mickey's Philharmagic), but for now, it's time to sign off.

Proof that we made it to the rope drop show.

Enjoying some treats just outside the exit of The Enchanted Tiki Room