Florida: Magic Kingdom Day Three

Portal Fantasyland

Cooling off

Clang Clang Clang

Glass blower - Main Street

Stage show

Iconic Disney moment

Just plain fun!

Portal in Liberty Square

Thunder Mountain

Portal Adventureland

Magic Kingdom is a place of family oriented mayhem, line-ups and the occasional party. By day three, I knew we hadn't seen everything but wasn't really thrilled by the idea of spending hours in the lines. In addition, I had adopted a not my kid my kid for the morning so there were three excitable children who were raring to go.

By this time, I had learned that there is no right or wrong way to Disney. But there are things that really help, like getting your fast passes done ahead of time through the website so that you don't have to find the fast pass kiosk right on entry. That certainly saved us a lot of time. Pack a hefty lunch bag so that you don't have to stand in the food lines (although I totally caved in favor of the Starbucks as I needed caffeine.) Be prepared and have a lot of water bottles. I carried 12 every day and they all disappeared by the time the evening rolled in. On this particular day in time, I knew I didn't want to stand in the one to two hour lines for the rides. My eldest made a bee line for the Pluto line for a picture, so that killed thirty minutes, and the other two aimed at the Aristocat line. There are characters everywhere so if there are favorites, know where they are and gauge the lines.

From there, we opted to do something different as a family. We walked to the fire hall in Main Square and found the Sorcerer's game. Each of us got a package of cards. On opening them, we had a series of spell cards that could be used to defeat the Disney villains. One key is issued per group and that is used by swiping your key on the lock at each portal. Your first mission is given to you at the kiosk by the fire hall. We were sent to Fantasyland. Then, we sleuthed the ground for our special symbol, found the lock, listened to the message and followed the instructions from portal to portal. It was like a choose your own adventure or treasure hunt. At some spots, we were able to hold up a spell card and one per group was chosen and cast by the cameras. AWESOME! It was so much fun that we went on to do missions in Liberty Square, Adventureland and Main Street USA. The best part about it is that you can play every time you go and there are some locals that have made a hobby of collecting all the cards.

However, the rest of our party finally arrived and so we journeyed the rides together. Pirates, Thunder Mountain several times and then Space Mountain. We played at the dance party and shopped a bit. I had to purchase sweat pants for my eldest at one point because it sure got darned chilly after about 8:00 pm. It was our last night there so you know that we had to try and stay as late as possible. In our case, that was midnight. Lol. If you have small children that can last that long, the rides certainly are quicker to get through and you can get more accomplished. We watched the fireworks and had a great time.

However, all vacations have to come to an end at some point and this one was no different. It was time to head back to the hotel where I was up until 2 packing the bags. It actually meant purchasing an additional suitcase as I had acquired too much stuff. Darn it.

We actually had one more day in Florida, but that was spent at the resort enduring a time share owners update (they means sales so don't be fooled like we all were...and if you have guests...don't do it...I was furious by the end as they stole 3 hours of my holiday and when we went to get the gift, the guy went on his 30 minute break...um...no I don't want to wait in the office when I could be by a pool, thank you.) I finally got to the pool and waited until dark when we opted for Smokey Bones for supper. That was yummy but not worth the 2 hour wait. Then, we stayed at the Staybridge Inn by the airport. Great breakfast and great rooms for reasonable pricing. I was impressed and would totally recommend them.

And that ends Florida...next travel blog...California for Dance the Magic...

Orlando on Dwellable

Florida: Star Island, Downtown Disney and Medieval Times

Blogging is great if you have something to write about. Yesterday, the day was spent sitting around the pool at Star Island, reading books and generally relaxing. The girls slept and napped and played so there was little motivation to leave and for once, I decided that THAT was okay.

Star Island has been a great resort. There are pools and hot tubs, tennis courts and mini golf centrally located in the middle. There are bar staff and activity staff, with the convenience store so it feels safe to let the children loose a little so that they have some Independence. So much so, that I decided to go for a massage to fix the wicked pillow headache that I acquired on being here. No idea what villains stalked my sleep but I sure woke up worse for wear. The masseuse was amazing and managed to get my neck from terrible to not bad. The kids won ice cream and got sun kissed through cloud cover.

In the evening, the rain came so it seemed like a good idea to venture to Downtown Disney to get a small boy a birthday gift. With the construction and lack of map, I missed some great places to visit but managed to get thoroughly frustrated by Lego. In there, you can lose children in 1.2 seconds flat and they don't seem to have the stock that you would think they would. Disney Lego....out of stock. I wound up in a cloud of blue depression that just about killed my mood for the day. However, the bright side came with finding Pluto for my eldest and baby aristocrat for the younger so that was at least one mission accomplished. I think it would be a great place to eat and hang out sans kids, but with them...not a good idea.

This morning proved to be a lazy one as well. There are some great outlet malls near here so I stocked up on clothing for the coming birthdays and such, found fabulous coffee and shoes. From there, it was time for the girls spa appointments at Star Island. I was impressed. It was bibbity bobbity boo without the price tag. They were thrilled and looked lovely. Tiaras and magic wands were included.

Why? Medieval Times. My eldest loved it so much the last time we came to Disney that I promised to go back. It was just as good the second time. We had seats in the front, and cheered on the Yellow Knight enthusiastically. We were a party of 13 so we were loud and medievally. The food was delicious and plentiful as was the ale. They ply you with photos for purchase and allow you to walk through their museum exhibition beforehand. All in all, it was a great evening out for our last one together.

Tonight finished off with a birthday celebration for the wee man who is 4 and the party continued until, well now. I don't think we really got the hang of this time change. Our body clocks have just gone with the flow.

Tomorrow it is back to the Magic Kingdom. Everyone else, please stay home...love me.

I don't have a lot of images for this one that are any good. So much for that.

Kissimmee on Dwellable

Florida: Epcot

  
Relaxation is not for the faint of heart, especially considering that the Hockey Game was on bright and early this morning. What hockey game? Yeah...you might not be Canadian. With the Olympics, being Canadian means that you rise with the sun and watch the game. Fortunately, this game was not against the USA and we won 3:0 so everyone at the park was happy. I dread to think about how awful the sulks would have been otherwise. After all, it feels like half the population in Florida right now are Canadian.

Once hockey was put to bed, the car load piled into Epcot for the day. Fast Passes were working so we hooked up with Test Drive, Nemo and Spaceship Earth. Now, Epcot is lovely. But there is so much to do that for the second visit in a row, we only managed to see half the park. It is really frustrating to go early and still not see everything. The positive part of Epcot is that they have lockers and have a very logical map. We started with Soarin which is amazing and then did the boat tour through the research lab. From there, we hit up Canada and worked our way around the pavillions to Germany and then our fast passes kicked in. We caught the boat back to Mexico and Tomorrowland to begin the Fast Pass hop. We rode Nemo and visited the aquariums. We met a few characters and wandered through Spaceship Earth and Mission Space. That ride is not for the faint of heart, it felt very realistic. And of course, my kids were all set to go again immediately. However, test drive called and that was fabulous. You could design your own car and then see how well your simulation would do. I loved it and would have gone again but once again, the line was 60 minutes long.

The cool part about Epcot is that they have great rides. There are the detective opportunities with mission control around the park that take place in different countries. We solved France's mystery today. At each country, you can have your bear stamped and signed off. And there are the character locations everywhere. The food at this park is incredible and the boutiques encourage you to spend money. I really loved how the staff were from each nation, which added to the geographical feel of the place. I just wish the park was open longer to accommodate it.

The negative side of Epcot is that you need way more time than is possible to accomplish enough of it to feel that you had a satisfying day. My feet hurt and I really can't persuade myself to go back for the second day. I would rather do NASA again or Magic Kingdom. There was also a two hour line to meet the characters from Frozen in Norway. We went with friends to the park, but we never even saw them so that was a washout. For the main attractions, you can only get a Fast Pass for one of them, so choose wisely and leg it to the ones that you couldn't get. Disney is a challenge. It is a lot of fun scattered with a lot of lines.

Epcot - you are my favorite park but I can only come once as you wear me out.

So, we finished the evening with feet and bodies in the pool to relax tired muscles and feet. The music was great and the pool was awesone at the resort.

Florida: Disney's Hollywood Studios

Indianna Jones, run!

Best dress ever: Gone with the Wind

I love things that blow up...

Hollywood Studios means that once again, the rental car was pointed in the direction of Disney World. After Magic Kingdom, I have to confess I was slightly worried. We all know I don't like crowds, line ups or stress. Today, was sooo much better.

Parking was simple. The train tram was simple. Security was simple. So far so good. Fast pass was broken, but they promised to fix it. Shrugging, we continued and then we heard the music. Dun dun de dun dum de dum dum...Luke..."Darth Vader" and on the stage were all the characters from Star Wars. We had stumbled upon the Jedi training school and Star Tours. Star Tours only had a 10 minute line up and was amazing. The experience of soaring through the skies and galaxies was too much fun. So much fun in fact that the youngest barrelled through the gift shop and went back into line to do it all over again.

From there, the Indiana Jones show was about to begin and we headed over there. That was interesting as they demonstrated the techniques used for fighting scenes, the boulder roll and explosives in film. There was audience participation and lots of set changes. It was a great way to spend 30 minutes.

Fast passes were back in order, but by the time that we had figured that out, we were too late for Toy Story. We settled on Fantasmic, Little Mermaid and Lights Motors Action. Next time, I will do the roller coaster... On we went to the Great Movie Ride which I thoroughly enjoyed as it touched on a lot of my own favorite films. There were gangsters, the old west, musicals, aliens and munchkins. What is not to like?

However, once you have fast passes, you have to stick to the timetable. So, we headed for Lights, Motors Action for the speed cars stunt show. It was amazing. Being someone that enjoys flame shows from campfires to pyrotechnics, this was up my alley. There were speeding cars, jumping cars, burning of oil, rubber and free falls from buildings. A movie sequence was filmed while Lighting McQueen had a cameo shot. I would totally have watched it again, but it was off to the Little Mermaid show.

The little mermaid show was simple and musical. It was good for the children but I wouldn't suggest it for adults only unless you need airconditioning. That led to wandering the streets and it was then that the roller coaster came into play. The girls and I opted to wait in the very long line for Aerosmith's Rockin Rollin Rollercoaster. I could have ridden this one more than once, but the line was too overwhelming. It is that good though. It is 90 seconds of speed, upsidedown thrill spins and yes, it is slightly dark in there. FUN! Steering the girls out of the gift shop was not as fun.

The only way I got them out of there was the promise of art lessons. They offer art lessons at the Animation studio and an artist is available to talk you through being able to produce a character. We got Donald Duck. My effort was passable, but very amateur. However, it was awesome to get something that was really an experience. This is also where you meet the characters and can figure out who you would be... I got Lady from Lady and the Tramp...considering that this was the first movie I ever saw in a theatre, I thought that was rather apt.

Time doesn't rest, so it was on to the Pirates Show and then Fantasmic. I will say that sitting near the front gets you slightly damp, but watching the watershow and pyrotechnics up close is too cool to miss out on. You have to go early to get a decent seat. Thankfully, I had packed a large picnic that almost got us through the day. And best of all? It chose not to rain. This was an amazing day but I think tomorrow, we will veg.

Disney / Orlando on Dwellable

Florida: The Magic Kingdom

Traveling with children, Disney feels like it is inevitable. So, morning broke and we scrambled together a lunch, water and drove to the park to pay our $15 parking fee. I am sure there is a way to get around that, but I was already tired and did not want to think about it. From there, we walked to the gate and wandered onto the Monorail to be transported to the most magical place on earth. That is the slogan. I would suggest that it a crazy, insane cacophony of sound and people.

On arrival, the lines were huge to get onto the Monorail. If you wanted to meet the characters, the lines were at least 45 minutes long. So, we skipped that and went to Tomorrowland to get our Fast Passes. You are only allowed three per day. Then, we rode on Buzz light year and then wandered to the Pirates of the Carribean. We watched the street dancing parade, which was OK, but blocks every route imaginable.

And the people keep pouring into the park. Fast passes are a god send, but you only get three. We still had to wait about 20 minutes with the Fast Passes. The thing to note with Disney is that they do their best to be friendly and kind but of course, you get those that are inept. We thoroughly enjoyed Pirates, the Haunted House, the Speedway, Buzzlight Year, It's a Small World and Disney's Philharmagic. However, we lost 30 minutes at the Fairies as the wait time posted was 20 minutes and they meant an hour, but worse than that was Jungle Boat where we dutifully noted the wait time of 45 minutes, did some calcuations and figured that with 90 minutes in hand we should be OK for our next fast pass. TWO hours, we waited and eventually, did not even get to go on the ride. The girls were upset and I was incensed. I hate crowds and to be trapped in a line that long without the opportunity to get out due to sheer misinformation shaped our day. Fortunately, when the fellow at Thunder Mountain heard me talking about it, he apolgized on their behalf and offered a free fast pass for that ride. I was somewhat mollified by that. As I said, the majority of the staff were great.

We also had a Royal Dinner with the princesses in the castle. This was worth the time and energy. The food was magificent and the girls got to be up close and personal with the princesses which made their day. After dinner, we slipped down the ramp to watch the fireworks. Next time, we will watch from behind the castle, they would be better. And heaven help you if you have a toddler that needs restrooms, it took me 30 minutes to negotiate four girls to bathrooms through the fireworks crowd. Disney staff contientously had every logical route blocked off for public safety. That is more important than a direct route to public washrooms. I have a lot of pithy comments to make about that but perhaps I shouldn't. And perhaps the staff should know the park well enough to be able to clearly communicate the best route to find restrooms instead of just saying ma'am you can't go that way, or maam you have to go back. (Visualize a 6 year old barely holding it and being asked to walk 20 minutes back the other way). These staff were just doing their job. I just think their job should be more reasonable in nature.

In the end, I enjoy Disney in part. I hate it in parts too. It is not my favorite place and it is not magical. It is an exercise in patience and a struggle to keep the children entertained in the endless lines. I think that we will try Epcot, or somewhere not so magical. I think we will have to go back, but I really don't want to. Is that wrong?

Disney / Orlando on Dwellable