Disney's Hollywood Studios

I hadn’t visited this park for years and years (since the 1990’s) back when Disney’s Hollywood Studios was known by its former name: MGM Studios. Carlos and I went to Starbucks in Kissimmee this morning prior to driving to the park (to have some real coffee – Disney only serves Nescafe) and we arrived at the Hollywood Studios entrance ~9 am (opening). This place was crowded! Apparently something called Star Wars Weekends was going on so the crowds were a little inflated today. We walked to the Toy Story Mania Ride (which I had never ridden), but the line was absolutely crazy so we skipped it and went on the classic Great Movie Ride instead.

We walked to the Tower of Terror (where I got a fast pass to ride it later), before wandering to the other side of the park to see Muppet Vision 3D (a classic).

Next we got some fast passes for Star Tours and I rode the Tower of Terror – it was pretty intense and we got dropped over 5 times – argh!

We rode Star Tours (one of my favorite rides) and by now it was time to head over to the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant for our lunch reservation. This was a really nice, fancy restaurant and the food was really good. I had their famous cobb salad and Carlos had a nice steak with potatoes and mushrooms in a wine sauce.

After lunch we went on the backlot tour (I really like this ride too because you get to see a lot of props from old Disney movies).

Next we ventured through the One Man’s Dream tour. This was a really well-done collection of items from the life of Walt Disney. An outline of his life and plans for Walt Disney World were here and we also watched a short film about the man behind the mouse.

From there, we wandered next door to the Animation Theater where we watched the Magic of Disney Animation show. After that, we went into a little animation studio where we were taught to draw piglet – it was really fun because we had our own little animation desks and paper.

From there, we went to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular which I have always really liked – these stunt actors are really good!

After the show, we wandered through some shops looking for souvenirs, but we couldn’t find anything interesting. By this time it was getting late (~6 pm) and we were getting a little tired, so we left for the hotel and took it easy for the rest of the night. Tomorrow would be our last day in Disney World and we were visiting a park new to both me and Carlos – Animal Kingdom!

Magic Kingdom - part 2

We took a break at the hotel for a couple of hours and returned to the Magic Kingdom ~ 6pm. This time, we took the ferryboat to the park instead of the monorail. The boat ride was nice because we were able to see a lot of the big Disney resorts (Polynesian, Grand Floridian, and the Contemporary).

The park was a lot less crowded now and we got some snacks on Main Street: I had a frozen banana and Carlos had an orange. We rode the train from the main entrance to Frontierland where we rode Splash Mountain (and got soaking wet!).

From there, we walked to Adventureland and rode Pirates of the Caribbean (for the third time now!). We walked back to Main Street and strolled through the souvenir shops where I got a smashed penny album and bought some presents for my family.

We walked to Tomorrowland where I had a sweet cream cheese-filled pretzel at the Lunching Pad (I have to have a pretzel in every park!) and we sat and relaxed for a little bit. We rode the Peoplemover followed by the Carousel of Progress.

By now, a parade had begun that forced us to take a very circuitous route to Adventureland so that we could ride the Jungle Cruise at night. By now it was ~ 10pm so we headed to Main Street, stopping near the entrance to Adventureland, to watch the fireworks show (Wishes). The fireworks were nice, but the amount of people here was just too much. We followed the throngs back to the entrance where we took the monorail back to the Transportation and Ticket Center. The crowds were bad so we didn’t make it back to the hotel until ~ 11:30pm! Next park: Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios).

Magic Kingdom - part 1

Getting to the Magic Kingdom is a little bit of an ordeal – you cannot just park and take a tram to the park entrance. We had to park, take a tram to the Transportation and Ticket Center, then we took the monorail to the park. The monorail was really fun (though crowded!) and Carlos and I arrived at the Magic Kingdom ~ 9am (right when the park opened).

We headed towards Adventureland first (this is my habit because my favorite rides are here in Disneyland). First, we rode Jungle Cruise (I took pictures of elephants taking a bath, but don’t worry – they all have their trunks on). After cruising through the jungles of the world, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean. I really like this ride (and it’s my mom’s favorite), though I think the version in Disneyland is better.

We were lucky with the crowds this morning and rode everything with no wait! We wandered to Frontierland and went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad next followed by the Haunted Mansion.

We ventured into Fantasyland and rode It’s a Small World. I have to say that It’s a Small World really needs some refurbishment – it looked really worn down. While in the neighborhood, we got some fast passes for Peter Pan to use later. By this time, we were getting hungry (we didn’t eat any breakfast) so we went to the Main Street Bakery where I had a chocolate croissant and milk and Carlos had a ham/egg/cheese croissant and hot chocolate.

We journeyed over to Tomorrowland next where we rode Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. We also rode the Peoplemover (AKA Tomorrowland Transit Authority) for a little break. After that, we wandered around and got fast passes for Space Mountain.

We returned to Fantasyland to ride Peter Pan’s Flight (my favorite ride in Fantasyland). After that, we walked back to Liberty Square to ride the Haunted Mansion again. After winding our way back to Adventureland (we did a lot of walking today), we grabbed pineapple Dole Whips at Aloha Isle – these are a Magic Kingdom tradition and a refreshing snack on a hot day.

After our treats, we rode Pirates again, then we returned to Space Mountain to use our fast passes. We doubled back to ride Jungle Cruise again before heading back to the hotel for an afternoon break from the heat and crowds. I will continue the rest of our Magic Kingdom day in the next installment!

EPCOT - part 2

With Future World complete, we started our walk around the World Showcase, beginning with Mexico (which we had already explored at lunch). Next we went to Norway (I really like one of the houses here that has a roof covered with grass and wildflowers) and rode Maelstrom – a boat ride with trolls. The next country on our route was China. Here we visited a really cool small-scale display of the terra cotta warriors.

After China was Germany (where I stopped to eat a pretzel – of course!). We visited the gift shops in Italy and admired the pretty architecture in the plaza. In the American pavilion we peeped inside and heard the Voices of Liberty singers while we looked at artifacts in the little museum area.

Next was one of my favorite countries in the World Showcase: Japan (Mexico is my other favorite). Here Carlos and I shared a huge honeydew kaki gori (shaved ice treat) and it was really good and refreshing in the hot humid weather. We walked around Japan, admiring koi fish, pretty architecture, and the cool department store.

Morocco was the next country we explored and is really fun because there are lots of little intricate streets that wind throughout the pavilion. I especially liked the camel statue wearing a fez.

In France, we visited some shops and admired the pretty gardens. From there, we walked to England and wandered around until our dinner reservation at the Rose and Crown Dining Room. I had eaten here before with my family and the food Carlos and I had for our dinner was really good like I remember! I had a cottage pie and Carlos ate fish and chips. After stuffing ourselves, we walked to Canada (the final country on our route) and visited some shops full of cute moose; Carlos bought me a souvenir EPCOT pin from a little cart here.

With our completion of the World Showcase, we walked back to Future World and wandered around Innoventions before riding Living with the Land (again) and revisiting the fish in the Seas.

We returned to World Showcase and walked around the world again (counterclockwise from Canada this time). By now it was 8 pm and we were getting a bit tired so we rode the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico again (and admired some Donald piñatas) before heading out.

As we were leaving, Spaceship Earth was still open so we made this our final ride of the evening before driving home and hitting the hay – tomorrow is Magic Kingdom day!

EPCOT - part 1

We got up a little early this morning to arrive at EPCOT before the park opened at 9 am because we had to exchange our 4-day resident pass receipts for our actual tickets. We parked around 8:15 am and wandered to the will call booth to get our tickets before standing in line at the turnstiles where we waited to enter EPCOT. It was so cool to see Spaceship Earth (the big silver “golf ball”) again after more than 5 years! Eventually we were let in, watched the opening ceremony, and followed the crowd towards the Land pavilion to ride Soarin’ (probably one of my favorite rides). We walked right on and waited for the front row. After riding Soarin’ we got some fast passes for later before we rode another one of my favorite rides: Living with the Land. I really like seeing all the plants and fish on this ride – it is also really relaxing and quiet! After riding Living with the Land, Carlos and I ate a small “breakfast” at Sunshine Seasons (also in the Land pavilion). I had a healthy breakfast of vanilla crème brulée and Carlos had some coffee.

We left the Land and rode Spaceship Earth (really fun and updated since our last visit a few years ago) then we wandered to the Living Seas pavilion. We rode the Seas with Nemo and Friends and visited the aquaria while waiting for our fast pass time for Soarin’ to roll around. I especially liked seeing the manatees and cuttlefish in the aquaria.

We rode Soarin’ again (in the third row – not as fun as the first row!) then walked across Future World to Test Track to grab some more fast passes for after lunch.

At this time the World Showcase was open, so we walked to Mexico for lunch at the San Angel Inn (~noon). Lunch here was very good and the ambiance was awesome – it was like we were sitting inside a cool Mexican village in front of a Mayan temple at night! I had tostadas de tinga and Carlos had the traditional Mexican lunch with sopa Azteca, skirt steak, and flan. My favorite food from the lunch was definitely the sopa Azteca. After lunch, we rode the Gran Fiesta Tour (with the three caballeros) in Mexico then headed back to Test Track.

I had never ridden Test Track before and it was pretty fun, though there was one big curve that we took really fast that was a little intense! Next we rode Journey Into Imagination. I used to like this ride (and my sister LOVED it), but now it is really lame! At least the little purple dragon (Figment) is cute, but Carlos and I decided that this was the worst ride in all of Disney World.

With that, we had finished everything that we wanted to do in Future World and it was time to venture into the World Showcase – tune in next time for part 2 of our EPCOT adventure!

Privatization of bloggie

I am thinking about restricting reader access to my blog to just my close friends and family so I thought I would post a little update about that before I make this blog private. Only a few people actually read this thing anyway, but just to keep my private life a little more private, there is a setting on blogger that lets me invite readers to my blog. I don't think you have to sign up for a google account to be able to read the blog, but if you do it is really easy. I tried to privatize the blog this morning and it sends little invites to everyone's e-mails that I list so let me know if you would like to be included in the list (besides the people I already know who read this!). OK, just a heads-up that I will be changing these settings in a few days so if you get a prompt to enter your e-mail/password info, this would be why -- sorry if it's kind of a pain!

PS. I should have a post about EPCOT up later tonight.

Pre-park days in Kissimmee

Dad, Carlos, and I drove up to Kissimmee from Miami on the morning of 16 May. Mom had to leave the day before, but dad stayed with us because he had a business trip in Jacksonville (~3 hours from Kissimmee). The drive went quickly (~4 hours with a lunch break at one of the service plazas on the turnpike), but was full of thousands of flies called “Love Bugs.” The swarms were so thick that we had to stop and clean the windshield and front bumper a couple of times. Love Bugs are common in central Florida with seasonal swarm outbreaks at the end of spring and in the fall. Their acidic bodies are corrosive and may discolor car paint – so we took the car for a wash after we arrived in Kissimmee (with Love De-Bugger – it worked really well!). We had an eventful day that also involved eating Dippin’ Dots, replacing a broken tire valve, and dinner at Olive Garden.

Dad drove to Jacksonville on the 17th for business (returning that night) and Carlos and I spent the day exploring Kissimmee and the area around Walt Disney World. That night we went to Applebees for dinner.

We all went to Downtown Disney on the 18th and explored – this was a really nice place full of shops and restaurants! Carlos bought me a cool T-shirt from the World of Disney store. Dad left Downtown Disney to return to Seattle later in the afternoon and Carlos and I planned our next few days at the Disney Parks. We bought Florida resident passes that were an excellent deal: four theme parks in four days for $99/person. It usually costs $80/person for one park for one day so we ended up saving a lot of money. We stayed in a nice little hotel off Disney property too to save more money to spend on nice meals and souvenirs. We visited EPCOT, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom on 19, 20, 21, 22 May respectively. I will post each park day with pictures once I download and organize them all!