Disney World- Day 6- Epcot by Day, Magic Kingdom by Night

Yep, we got to celebrate JP's birthday at Disney World!  Because my birthday was the day before we got there, I got a celebration button too.  When we checked in, I immediately put my button on my bag.  JP refused to put his button on his bag.  However, by the last day of our trip, JP's attitude towards Disney World had significantly changed so on his birthday he said, "well I guess I do need to put my button on."  And yes despite what he said when we first got to Disney, he wore it!

Our last day at the park was spent at Epcot.  JP had never been here before.

Again, we got to the park so we would be there when the gates opened.  I'm telling you, JP's attitude towards Disney really did change!  The first day he couldn't believe people were hustling to get to the attractions, but in this picture I am being told "Put your camera away.  You can take pictures of that when we leave.  Did your guidebook tell you to stop and take a picture?"

Throughout our trip, he got very in to checking out the map to make sure we would go the quickest route.

Our first stop was Test Track which we got a Fast Pass for after we rode it, therefore, we were able to ride it twice with no wait!

In between our first Test Track ride and our second, we rode Mission: Space and Living with the Land.  We also obtained a Fast Pass for Soarin' so we could use it after we rode Test Track the second time, avoiding the 60 minute wait.  Before heading over to the countries, we also rode Journey into the Imagination and Spaceship Earth, which had a new activity that made it quite a fun ride.

We explored the countries more so than I have in the past.  Our favorites were Japan and Morocco.  We liked Japan because they had the biggest store that definitely had the most unique things that we were interested in.  We liked Morocco because they had yummy food!  I got a lamb wrap.

 We visited France...

... and the United Kingdom

...as well as, Canada, China, Germany, Italy.  We even had to escape the Vikings of Norway, and took a boat ride with Donald Duck through Mexico.  And to think, we did all of this without ever having to get on a plane.

At this point it started raining so to escape the rain we stumbled into the Innoventions building.  This is where we got to experience Sum of All Thrills.  With this attraction, we got to design our own rollercoaster and then ride it.  It was a lot of fun!  

Then we discovered what was JP's favorite attraction (I'm not really sure why)... the Waste Management attraction.  We got to determine how much trash we produce each year and then went around to different stations to recycle or decompose our trash.  We did all of this by pushing a garbage truck that looked like a small child's shopping cart.  JP loved the garbage truck.  It even made beeping noises when you pulled it backwards.

So we had fun at Epcot!

But, since it was our last night, we had to take advantage of the fact that Magic Kingdom was open until 2am for Disney Resort guests.

We got there in time to ride Splash Mountain before the fireworks.  While JP was waiting in line to get a turkey leg (his favorite), the fireworks started.  We got the most perfect place for fireworks! My camera battery died so I did not get a picture so I will try to paint a picture. 

We were standing in front of a lake with the Liberty Square Riverboat in front of us to our right.  There were about 5-6 different places Disney shot off the fireworks, and we could see all of them perfectly.  Plus, the fireworks made a beautiful reflection in the water.

I think it was the best place to be!  We didn't have to stand for an hour holding our place right in front of the castle, and we didn't have to deal with crowds.  It was the perfect end to our Disney trip.  Well it wasn't over quite yet.  We rode Pirate's of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, and enjoyed a pineapple float before heading to Space Mountain for our last ride of our trip.

We had such a great time! I would love to go back someday... we'll see if JP will be up for it :)

Disney World- Day 5- Randomness but really Hollywood Studios

tThe Thursday of our week long stay was our "Random" day.  This was the day where we would be able to go back to parks we liked and not stay at the park all day.

We decided to go back to Hollywood Studios so we could ride Toy Story Mania! again. I love this ride!  We were at the park when it opened so this time I battled the crowds at the Fast Pass station and got two Fast Passes.  Then we got in line and got to ride it without much of a wait.  However, when we exited there was already a 45 minute wait!

We went and rode the Rockin' Roller Coaster until it was time to use our Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania!.  We made the mistake of getting in the Single Riders Only line at Rockin' Roller Coaster.  We soon discovered that it would have taken just as much time to be in the regular line.  After the coaster we were able to ride Toy Story Mania! again without a wait using our Fast Passes.  By the time we got off this time, the wait was 60 minutes, and by noon it was 100 minutes!

I'm not sure who was Player 1 and who was Player 2, but I do know that I won the first time we played/rode and JP won the second.

We did the Studio Backlot Tour, which we had not done the first day we were there.

We left the park by noon and took the boat over to the Beach Club which is a Deluxe resort.  We were going to eat at Beaches and Cream, but once we got there we decided we would rather eat somewhere else.  However, it was cool that we got to see the Beach Club's pool which is probably the coolest pools I've ever seen.  If I ever go back t o Disney World, ok WHEN I go back, I want to stay there.

We decided to walk over to the Boardwalk to eat at ESPN again.  It is here that we learned Chipper Jones tore his ACL and will be out for the season.

We headed back to the hotel.  We attempted to swim, but JP thought the pool was "gross" because there were too many "grimy" kids in it.  So we rested for a few hours.  I'm pretty sure I took a long nap, which is rare for me!

That evening we went off Disney property to find a WalMart so we could replace the breakfast food we had run out of.  In the process, we had to run through a Toll because we only had dollars and no change. (Hey, in Dallas I was told that you could run through 3 tolls a month without getting ticketed, so we were hoping it was the same in Orlando).  After completing our WalMart trip, we found another Chickfila for dinner. Yum.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Downtown Disney.  I really wanted a Disney World cup because I have found that cups are the most practical souvenir you can buy.  All the lots close to where we wanted to go were noted as FULL so we were going to have to walk quite a ways.  However, JP noticed that Disney's CASTING building was right across from where we wanted to park and they had an almost empty parking lot.

He insisted on parking there despite me saying no.  I did check and there were no signs that said we couldn't park there so we did.  This saved us tons of walking, and JP was quite proud of finding us a close place to park, although I still wouldn't have parked there if he hadn't been with me!

Downtown Disney has the biggest Disney merchandise store I have ever seen.  They have a huge kitchen section and I saw so many things I wanted but I only purchased a cup.  I love my Disney cup!

After returning from Downtown Disney, we took the bus back to Hollywood Studios so we could watch the late showing Fantasmic!, Hollywood Studio's fireworks show.  Here we are waiting for the bus to come.  JP says one day I will look back and laugh hysterically at the glasses I have on.  He is likely right.

We decided to see if there were any rides without waits to ride instead of waiting in line to get into the Fantasmic! stadium.  So, we walked right on to Tower of Terror.  When we were getting off the ride, we found out that Fantasmic! had been canceled for the evening.  We were very sad since basically we ended up coming to the park just to ride one ride.  Oh well!  We still had fun.

Disney World- Day 4: Magic Kingdom

Although we briefly went to Magic Kingdom on our first night, it was time for us to spend a whole day there!  When you think of Disney World, you definitely think of Magic Kingdom.  Magic Kingdom is also the park that has the most attractions.

Again, we got there when the park opened.  Although we actually got there a few minutes later because it took our bus forever to pick us up from our hotel.

As soon as we got in the park, we headed towards Splash Mountain.  Splash Mountain is another attraction that shows why Disney is so unique.  Yes, it is your typical "log ride" but not really.  Instead of taking you straight up and then down, it takes you through about a 5 minute story of Brer Rabbit trying to escape Brer Bear and Brer Fox.

We got to ride Splash Mountain without having to wait in line.  As soon as we got off of it, we got a Fast Pass for it and went over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and road it twice with little wait until it was time to go use our Splash Mountain Fast Pass.  So, we got to ride Splash Mountain again with no wait!

It was while we were on Thunder Mountain Railroad that I think JP truly discovered that is was acceptable to be loud on roller coaster type rides.  So, you better believe from then on he took advantage of being able to be loud in public by hootin' and hollerin' on intense rides.

Here is JP sitting on a rocking chair on Tom Sawyer's Island with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in the background.

At this point in time, we headed to ride Snow White's Scary Adventure's.  We decided to get a Fast Pass but discovered that JP had lost his key! (Remember- the "key to the world" serves as your ticket, key to room, and credit card plus you use it to get your fast passes).  I called the number on my card to see what we needed to do and was told to go to Guest Services.

So we took the Walt Disney World Railroad to the front of the park.  We talked to a nice guy name Justin about our situation, and he canceled JP's lost card and got him a new one.  However, when he went to print the card it took longer than expected.  Actually, it never printed, and we had to pick it up at our hotel later that night.  So as a result of this inconvenience Justin gave us both 2 fast passes we could use on any ride!

Because we got these fast passes we were able to ride Splash Mountain one more time with no wait for a total of 3 times!  Plus we got to ride Space Mountain twice with no wait using the fast pass we obtained from Justin and one we obtained in the normal manner, therefore avoiding the 60 minutes wait!

One of JP's favorite things about Magic Kingdom was the massive turkey leg he ate for lunch.

Other attractions we enjoyed at Magic Kingdom:

Haunted Mansion (JP's favorite)

Country Bear Jamboree (The attraction JP's brother Michael could not stop talking about when he came to visit us the week before we left for Disney World).

Minnie's Country House

Jungle Cruise
Peter Pan's Flight
Pirates of the Carribean
Swiss Family Robinson Tree House
The Hall of Presidents
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Walt Disney World's Carousel of Progress (I love this one!  It's a great big beautiful tomorrow...)

We had so much fun at Magic Kingdom.  We loved the fact that we never had to wait more than 20 minutes in line and got to ride so many rides multiple times.

That night we were pretty tired so we went off Disney property to eat at Chickfila and then went to bed pretty early.

Disney World- Day 3: Animal Kingdom

JP and I were definitely at the very front of the line to get in at Animal Kingdom.  As soon as people were allowed to enter the park, Disney Cast Members with holding a long rope, led the crowds to the two major attractions, Kilamanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest, in order to prevent a stampede.  Maybe they do this at other parks, but I've never been so close so I do not know.

JP and I headed for Expedition Everest first.  We were the 9th and 10th people in line; therefore, we got to go on the first ride of the day!

After getting off Expedition Everest, we grabbed a Fast Pass for it and headed over to Kali River Rapids.  We rode it twice, and both times JP got the most wet of anyone in our boats!  After that, we headed back over to Expedition Everest and got to ride for the second time without a wait by using our Fast Pass!

Other attractions we enjoyed were:

• Dinosaur (JP loved this ride so we rode it twice)
• Primeval Whirl (We decided this was the only thing at Disney you might find at Alabama Adventure)
• Maharajah Jungle Trek
• Pangani Forest Exploration Trail
• We rode the Wildlife Express to the Affection Section and Conservation Station
• It's Tough to be a Bug!
• Kilamanjaro Safaris

 JP at the Affection Section... aka petting zoo.  This is one of the only things we were not overly impressed with.  But, JP did enjoy petting the old goat.  The Cast Member we talked to said that all the goats they have are "elderly."

In front of the Tree of Life it is 145ft tall with 325 animals carved in it.

Inside of the Tree of Life is the 3-D show attraction, It's Tough to be a Bug!

We both really enjoyed Animal Kingdom, and both think it is better than your typical zoo because the animals are not in cages.  We got to see some pretty cool animals, and JP thinks that this is the most shaded park making it the coolest.

Although we saw some intense animals like hippos, lions, and tigers... no one was injured :)

 

 After enjoying the day at the park, we went back to our hotel to rest until it was time to go to our dinner reservation.  I wanted to go to one sit down restaurant while we were there to have a meal that didn't consist of your typical fast food items.  I decided that Boma was definitely the best option.  

 

It was an all-you-can-eat buffet meaning we would get our moneys worth.  Plus the food is inspired by African cuisine, meaning it is definitely different.

Boma is located in the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which is a Deluxe resort.  We had a lot of fun just exploring the area.  JP really liked the architecture of the building, especially the straw roof.

We had so much fun at Boma! It was great to get to try all of the different foods.  They had 5 excellent soups that we liked sampling to determine which was our favorite.  They had a meat carving station that JP loved.  He also loved the bread pudding.

I really liked the FuFu (which is a sweet potato dish).  But, I was most excited about the desserts.  They had about 10 different desserts, and they were all bite size so you could definitely try them all.

One interesting fact about Boma is that they use paper straws.  I had never used a paper straw before!

We were definitely stuffed after that meal!  And, we were exhausted from our long day at the park.  So, we went to bed at like 8:45, but you better believe we were fresh and ready to go for our next exciting day at Disney World!

Disney World- Day 2: Main Course of Hollywood Studios with Magic Kingdom for Dessert

Our first day at Disney World started out well.  The parks open at 9am, and I wanted to leave at 8am to make sure we got there before the park opened.  The earlier you get there, the less likely you will have to wait in long lines!  I didn't know how much JP would like getting up at 7:30am Eastern aka 6:30 our normal time, but he got up every morning without complaining!

One way we decided to keep costs down on the trip was to bring breakfast to eat in the room instead of spending $10 per person for breakfast in the food court.  Before leaving Birmingham, JP went to our favorite breakfast place, Magic Muffins, and got us a ton of muffins to eat for breakfast.

JP and I arrived at Hollywood Studios around 8:30am and were, therefore, able to be there when the "gates" were opened.  If you've never been at a Disney World Park at opening, it is quite a site!  There are a ton of people are walking as fast as they can (running is not allowed) usually to the same one or two rides.  Many of these people have strollers and small children by there side.  JP and I found this whole process quite humorous!  We walked quickly, but we definitely got passed by a whole lot of people.

The first attraction we quickly walked to was Toy Story Mania! which is the newest addition to Hollywood Studios and an attraction I had never experienced.  We were able to virtually walk right on since we hadn't gotten there at park opening.  Later in the day we noticed that the wait time was 60 minutes!

Toy Story Mania! is definitely a good example of what makes Disney World unique.  You can tell that so much time is put into detail.  For example, the waiting line area is not surrounded by bare concrete walls, but is actually a magnificently decorated area.

Even the ceilings are elaborately decorated!

The ride itself was quite fun!

The ride takes you through a Midway.  The games are 3-D and on your car you have a gun which you pull the string on to launch pies, rings, darts, and other things in order to hit things to score points.  It was definitely a lot of fun and one of my favorite attractions!

After completing our game in which JP scored more points than me, we headed over to the other two top attractions at Hollywood Studios...

Rockin' RollerCoaster- which we both give 5 stars for it's super quick start and upside down loop













And Tower of Terror- which JP loves but I, who can ride roller coasters all day, hate that straight dropping feeling.

Other attractions we saw that day were:

• Light! Motors! Action!
• Muppet Vision 3-D
• Star Tours
• The Great Movie Ride
• Walt Disney: One Man's Dream

After finishing our day at the park, we took a boat to Disney's Boardwalk to eat lunch at ESPN Club.  While we were there, the waitress noticed my birthday button (My birthday was the day before we got there and JP's was the Friday of our trip.  Disney celebrates with you by giving you a birthday button).  She surprised me with a free dessert!

After lunch, we were both very tired and went back to the room for what became our daily afternoon break/nap.

Around 8:15pm I decided that we needed to go to Magic Kingdom and see the parade.

After watching a minute of the parade, JP and I decided to skip the parade since most people were watching the parade leaving lines short.  So we took advantage of short lines and rode Pirates of the Caribbean and
Buzz Light Year's Space Ranger Spin.

Buzz Light Year, which is a shooting game to score points, was definitely NOT my talent.  JP slaughtered me. My score is on the left, and JP's is on the right.

We got out of Buzz Light Year just as the fireworks were ending.  We decided, instead of joining the massive crowd on their way to the buses, we would take advantage of the last 30 minutes the park was open to ride a few more rides with no wait.  We rode Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion, which is JP's favorite.

We exited the park as it was closing and hopped on the crowded bus back to our hotel.  Once there we were very hungry and decided to go to the McDonald's that was about a quarter mile from our hotel.

Disney World- Day 1: The Journey

JP and I left Birmingham on August 8th around 9am after leaving once, going to WalMart to get some fuel additive only to realize JP didn't have his wallet, going back to the apartment to get the wallet, then finally going inside WalMart to get the fuel additive and then stopping to get gas.

There are many ways to go to Disney World so I let JP decide which way we would go.  He decided on the route that would take us through Dothan and Tallahassee before getting on 75S which would take us to Disney World.

I really liked this route.  Instead of getting on one road and going non-stop (what you would do if you went through Atlanta) we had to make several turns which I felt broke the trip up and made it seem to go faster.  Also, we enjoyed driving through Dothan. 

Between Troy and Dothan, there was a WalMart right on our side of the road so, of course, JP had to stop.  He needed to get coffee but he also randomly decided he needed a gallon of Milo's Sweet Tea.  He had never had sweet tea before so he was quite funny drinking from a gallon jug when we got to stop lights.

For lunch we stopped at Dairy Queen.  I have discovered that Dairy Queen is definitely my favorite fast-food place to get a hamburger.

We finally arrived at Disney World around 8pm Eastern Time.  The route that Google Maps took us was what must have been an back entrance into Disney World.  Every other time I had been, we got to Disney World via International Drive, which is very busy.  But this time, we took 429, which was very, very empty.  It was kinda cool.

JP and I chose to stay at Disney's All Star Sports hotel.

I really wanted to stay on Disney property.  The themes at all of the Disney Resorts are definitely not like anything outside the park.  Plus, by staying on Disney property, we got to take advantage of Disney's transportation system.  Although some off-property hotels have transportation to the theme parks, I have read that you typically have to wait longer for them, and they do not drop you off as close to the park.

 

Another thing I like about staying on Disney property is the fact that you get a Key to the World.  You use this as your room key, your park tickets, and your credit card.

So once we decided to stay on Disney property, the next step was to decide which resort to stay at.  There are 33 resorts and hotels on Disney property, so there are quite a lot of options.  There are three categories of hotels:  Deluxe, Moderate, and Value.  There are also Villas and Campgrounds.  Although I would have loved to stay in a Deluxe resort, at $300+ a night I didn't want to spend the money.  So, I decided to stay at a Value resort which was about $100 a night. 

Although I'm sure the Deluxe resorts are fancier than the Value, considering the fact that you rarely spend time at your resort, the Value resorts are just fine.  We chose to stay at the All Star Sports- there is also an All Star Music and an All Star Movies.  The All Star Sports is decorated with massive sports related items.

JP and I were placed in the Surfs Up building, which was right next to the pool.  Despite at times being a little loud, it was definitely a great location.  Not only was it steps from the pool, but it was also the closest building to the bus stop.

I would definitely recommend this hotel because it is on Disney property, well priced, and provided a fine place to sleep at night.

Once we checked in, we bought tickets.  There are multiple options for tickets.  The more days you purchase, the cheaper per day it is.  

Additionally, you can choose to add the Park Hopper option and/or the Water Park Fun and More package.  The Park Hopper option allows you to go to multiple parks on the same day without having to buy a new ticket.  If you do not have it, if you buy a ticket to Magic Kingdom for the day and decide to go to Epcot at night for the fireworks, you would have to buy a ticket to Epcot too.  With the Park Hopper, you would not have to purchase an additional ticket.  With the Water Park Fun and More package, admission to water parks is included for the number of days your purchase. You also get entrance into Disney Quest and a few other perks.

JP and I ended up purchasing a 5 day Park Hopper and chose not to do the Water Park option.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday JP! 

On Disney World's 25th Birthday, Cinderella's Castle dressed up like this:

 Don't expect JP to dress up like this for his 25th birthday though!

Prices sure have increased!

Did you know that when the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, admission to park was only 3.50.  Woof! That is how much this here bone cost me!

Cleaning and Mowing

It's a good thing I'm not in charge of the laundry here. According to my friends here at Disney,  "If you were to wash and dry one load of laundry every day for 52 years, you’d clean as much as the folks at Walt Disney World Laundry do in a single day. The cast members there launder an average of 285,000 pounds each day. In addition, between 30,000 and 32,000 garments are dry-cleaned daily." 

Oh, and you better believe I don't do the mowing here.  Each year, 450,000 miles of grass are mowed her at Walt Disney World.

We do have a lot of prettiness here.  Remember how Goofy was telling you how big this place is?  Well 12% of our home (or 3,000 football fields) are dedicated to gardens and maintained landscapes.  Just glad I'm not the one doing all that work!
Source

A Little Trash Talk.

You don't want to make me angry!  You know what makes me angry, trash on the ground.  You know that made Walt Disney angry too.  When he was designing Disney World, he did a study at Disney Land and discovered people will typically walk no longer than 30 steps to throw something away.  More than 30 steps, that trash is on the ground.  So, at my home, Walt Disney World, you will never be more than 30 steps away from a trash can.

Also, you will rarely find bubble gum stuck to the bottom of a bench here at Disney World.  Why? In order to help prevent this from happening, Walt decided that we won't sell bubble gum here at my home.

So how exactly do we handle the trash here at Disney World?  We use our vacuum trash system that has been used as a model in big buildings and parts of cities.  It uses pipes 2 feet in diameter to suck all the trash to a central location.  The trash moves at 60 miles an hour using compressed air.

There is a whole 'nother world below you when you are at Disney World, and this world is known as the Utilador.  It is a system of tunnels that run beneath the Magic Kingdom.  But did you know, these tunnels are actually on ground level and the park is on the "second story."  You see in the Orlando area, you can not dig very deep before you hit water.  So, the designers at Disney decided to build up!

Although tons of things happen here at the Utilidor, taking care of the trash is one of the major ones!  Taking care of the trash down here shows how we here at Disney pay attention to detail.  We don't want our visitors to see us take out the trash!

We even have a talking trash can here!  His name is Push the Talking Trash Can and he lives at Animal Kingdom.  He would love to talk to you if you ever come and visit!

On another note,  in the Disney 3-D attraction Philharmagic, I am the main character.  Why?  Because regardless of what language you speak (and we host people from all over the world here), you can understand me, or not understand me really.  Only my pals here truly understand my spits and stutters.

Well, Gosh!

You think I'm tall!

Here are some of the tallest attractions we have to offer:

Expedition Everest- 200ft
Tower of Terror- 199ft
Cinderella's Castle- 189ft
Spaceship Earth- 183ft
Space Mountain- 180ft
Tree of Life- 145ft

The Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios is not as tall as is was originally supposed to be.  It was supposed to be much taller but the taller tower would have had to have a blinking light at the top for planes.  Disney designers thought this would take away from the them of the ride, so they built it just under the height required for the blinking light.

And did you know that Walt Disney World is the size of San Francisco or two Manahattan Islands.  Even better, on 25% has been developed so look for more attractions!