[Disney's] Hollywood Studios

The fourth and final park in our Disney adventure was Hollywood Studios (which I couldn't stop referring to all week as Universal Studios, which is not the same thing...it was very Joyce-like of me).  This will be the shortest post of all of the Disney-related posts for a variety of reasons:  it's the smallest park, it was pouring rain the first day we went so I didn't take my camera, and the second day we went we left shortly after lunchtime.

If I could post one picture about my predominant memory of Disney's Hollywood Studios,  it would be this one:

Those are our ponchos, drying as they lay draped over the backseat of the van.  Coupled with our umbrellas, we stayed dry enough, but it was a cold, cold rain (atypical for Florida), so our tootsies were frozen in our flip flops as we waded through the inches of water puddling here and there.  Not so much a review of the park, but a recollection of our own personal experience.  And just a word of advice - always bring ponchos & umbrellas in the event it rains.

Despite the rain, it was packed at Hollywood Studios.  I think it's just that way, regardless, because the park is so much smaller than the others.

In the rain we caught a bunch of shows - The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones' Stunt Show, the Lights! Motors! Action! Extreme Stunt Show (with cars) that was even more impressive in the deluge, and Disney Junior Live on Stage (which, showcasing a bunch of Playhouse Disney shows like Little Einsteins, Jake & the Neverland Pirates, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, was awesome).  We watched a 3D Muppet movie (during which Ben asked, "What's a muppet?" and I felt simultaneously sad and old).  And basically hung out indoors.  Most everything that was outside was closed anyway.   We did manage to ride the Tower of Terror, and got Fastpasses for The Rockin' Rollercoaster, but it broke down while the boys were in line.

When we came back a few days later, we spent our time on the headliners.  Ben absolutely loved the Tower of Terror and I think he was impressed with the Rockin' Rollercoaster, but maintained that Expedition Everest was the best ride at all the parks.

We went directly to Toy Story Mania for Fastpasses but we weren't going to be able to return until nearly 4pm, and we hadn't planned on staying that long, so we endured the alleged 60 minute wait.  There is plenty to look at in the line.  And what amazes me about Disney World in general, is how detailed every, single thing is.  Right down to the giant prop crayons, with paper peeled off.  That's amazing, right?

'

The ride was awesome, but we voted as a family and we think Buzz Lightyear's ride at the Magic Kingdom is just as fun - and the wait is not as long.  So, take that how you will.  We rode Buzz's ride about five times in two days.  We only managed to ride Toy Story Mania once.  And the rides are very similar to each other.

On our way between attractions, we stopped for a cameo in front of Lightning McQueen & Mater.

We walked through the Honey I Shrunk the Kids set/playground (which again made me feel old).  Check Abby out as she plowed into the kid below her.  She got in trouble.  (But I think the boy who took too long to get out of the way was halfway responsible.  Sound just like a mom, don't I?)

 

Then we waited on the boys at the Rockin' Roller Coaster.  For the record, this day, it felt like we were in Orlando, Florida.  

 

And what girl can resist trying on wigs?  

 

The Rockin' Roller Coaster was the last ride the boys rode before we departed from our inaugural Disney vacation.  It's also the first time in a week we thought we might have lost a kid, due to Sam and Ben getting split up in the single-rider line.  Ben got off about 5 rounds after Sam.  PHEW.

To sum up (I think you might know what's coming), Disney is awesome!

P.S. - We'd have been far less efficient during our trip without the guidance of The Unofficial Guide to Walk Disney World.   It was a huge help!

Long ago in a faraway land...

It feels like about a century ago that we pulled into the parking lot of Epcot and made our way toward the signature, giant silver ball.  It has been about six weeks.  And before my memory fails me completely, I am bound and determined to chronicle our first Disney trip by park for posterity, and by golly, today's the day I knock Epcot off the list.

Maybe not so poignant a beginning as the others, but like I said, I have to get to it before I forget all of the magical details.

We put Epcot off, not knowing what to expect.  I had never been there and all of the literature I read indicated that it was the least stimulating (read: most boring) of the parks.  Maybe it was because of our low expectations, but Epcot pretty much rocked. 

(I recognize that if I keep saying "Disney was awesome!" I'm going to get my name removed from the credible reviewers list...but if I had found something bad to say, I would.)

Perhaps Epcot might have been less alluring back in the days when character greetings were taboo.  But they aren't.  So, pretty much, that's what we did.  And Abby absolutely delighted in it.  Ben was a good sport too.  He had to meet a lot of princesses.

Sam and I coordinated a tag-team parenting strategy where one of us would take Ben on the "thrill rides" while the other of us would stand in line with Abby to meet whomever it was available.  She wasn't picky.  And she was perfectly content to meet whomever was in the shorter line.  (For this, her parents were very grateful.)

This is the story of Epcot - in photos (but not exclusively because you know I love captions).

As we made our way around the World Showcase...

In France, Abby elected to pose by the topiary version of  Belle because the live Belle was wearing her common blue dress with apron.  Apparently, Abby can't be seen with princesses unless they're in evening-wear.

With the beautiful Aurora.  (She really was pretty inside and out.)

In Morocco, both kids posed with Aladdin & Jasmine.  (No, really, we made Ben do that.  Hahahahaha.  He got a lot of points from me for that.  He's not usually such a good sport.)  Ben said, "I didn't know Aladdin was from Morocco."  Neither did I, kid.  At Epcot, they just go with "close enough".  I guess they didn't figure our little geography nerd would call them out on it.

 

In China, they met Mulan.  At first sight, Ben exclaimed, "Who is that!?"  Then he remembered that Mulan didn't always look like a boy.

In Future World, while Ben was off doing things like experiencing G-forces at Mission: Space, designing his own roller-coaster at the Sum of All Thrills, and collecting and disposing of virtual trash at Don't Waste It!, Abby met Vidia and Rosetta. (Rosetta was very chatty.  I think it made Abby nervous.)

We were 2nd in line to meet Daisy Duck.  (Meeting Daisy was almost not optional.  We left her line at the Magic Kingdom in favor of eating lunch.  That was not the choice Abby would have made and was very clear about it.  No worries.  We found Daisy at Epcot.  phew!)

 Stitch was next to Daisy, so when I asked Abby if she wanted to hug him, she said, "Sure."  Just like that.  See...told you she wasn't picky. . (She's never even seen Lilo & Stitch.)

 Obviously this is Bolt, but from across-the-way, I thought it was the clock-wielding rabbit from Alice & Wonderland.  Abby didn't care either way.  "Sure."

The KidCot stops made the more-educational World Showcase a bit more exciting for the kids.  They got to color a bear on a stick at each country with Sharpies (gasp!  No, really...what as Epcot thinking!?  Guess Crayola wasn't interested in sponsoring them?).  They also collected a stamp from each country, kind of like a passport.  A few of the countries wrote the kids' names in their languages.  (That was super cool to me.)

Our favorite attraction (if you will) at Epcot wasn't really an attraction at all, but a retail store for Coca-Cola, Club Cool.  If you've ever been to the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, you know that at the end of the tour, they let you sample cokes from all over the world (including the more popular flavors from the U.S.).  Club Cool features only the lesser-known flavors from other countries, after all, that's the theme of Epcot, I think.  They had a delicious ginger-ale that Sam and I enjoyed.  Abby & Ben liked the Mezzo-Mix from Mexico which was an orange-cola.  Beverly, the Italian option, was the talk of the place.  It tasted like battery acid/cough syrup. 

It left such a big impression on Ben that he traipsed all the way over to Italy to ask the stamp guy if he'd ever tried it, and if so, did he like it?  He talked with the man for about a minute and returned to us.  We asked him what he said and Ben said, "I don't know.  I couldn't understand him." 

Glad we did that.  Now we'll never know.  (Guess Ben gets his accent-interpreting skills from his mother.)

Epcot was a great break from the super-scary rides (according to Abby) of the other parks, but had enough rides to keep both kids thoroughly happy.  Abby enjoyed (to our surprise) Test Track, and racing around the track at high speeds.  She's so random. 

Oh, one thing, the worst ride at all of the parks is found at Epcot.  Journey into the Imagination with Figment.  Sam and I just looked at each other and said, "huh?!" at the end.  Feel free to skip it. 

My other tip...definitely get a fastpass for Soarin' first thing in the morning.  We all loved it.  (But I wouldn't enjoy waiting in line for 80 minutes, and that happens fast.)

Epcot, check.  We'll come again some day.  That's a promise.

Oh, oh, It's Magic...You Know...

So I'm a procrastinator.  And what happens when I get inspired to write about things is that I don't prioritize and then enough time passes that it becomes a chore instead of a hobby. 

I'm rapidly approaching that with the Disney trip.

I'm going to get this down before dementia sets in fully and I can't remember a darn thing about it.  Even if blogging is the second lamest thing to do on a Friday night surpassed only by watching approaching thunderstorms on the Doppler radar.  (Oh wait, did that too.)

Now that I got all of ^^^that^^^ out of the way....

The Magic Kingdom

Our first day was the no camera day, and it was, in a word, amazing.  I mentioned the Main Street parade as we walked in.  I know they did that just for us.  That's how Disney operates, right?  I didn't mention that as we stopped by the gate on the way in to pay for parking the cheerful attendant waved us through and said, "It's on Mickey.  The machine is down right now.  Have a magical night!"  That friends, was awesome.  And pretty much set the stage for the rest of the evening.  We opted for the ferry ride from the parking lot and I think we could have ended the night right then and there and it would have been a great night for the kids. 

But it was just the beginning.

We headed for Adventureland first, where we hopped on the Pirates of the Caribbean for the first ride.  I suppose it was risky, considering the spooky nature, but it was a success and Abby got over the spookiness once we told her it was all pretend.  That worked to defuse her fears of most everything at the parks.  And so it began.  We hit every ride in the Magic Kingdom over three days time.  Once we got Abby on Splash Mountain, her question as we stood in line for every single ride thereafter was, "Does this one have slides or is there a splash?"

On Sunday, we went back to the park for a day of fun in the sun...and longer rides and more-Florida-like temperatures.  The pictures are few from the most magical of the Disney parks, but take my word for it, the lack of pictures is inversely proportional to the amount of fun we had.

Even my big boy, Ben, enjoyed the tamer rides - like the carousel.

We caught a fabulous show on the front steps of the castle, so Abby could drink up every bit of princess that she could.

 

 But she did avert her eyes when the evil Maleficent came out.  Who can blame her?

While the boys were riding Space Mountain, the girls snapped a shot in front of Cinderella's castle.

Just look at my princess.

Then we ran over grabbed a couple of fastpasses for Splash Mountain, rode the train to the front entrance, and happened upon the chance to meet Pluto.  I did mention Abby's love for character greetings, right?

After a dip in the pool and a dinner at the hotel, we returned to the park that evening.  Would you believe as I stood in line with my ticket to enter, I heard someone call my name?  Usually I disregard it because, you know, chances are it's some other "Jenny/Jennie" that they're calling.  But this time, it was my whole name.  I knew my sweet friends would be there, but we hadn't coordinated a rendezvous yet.  Turns out we didn't have to.  It was awesome to meet up with friends at Disney - almost spontaneously!

Thanks for taking this picture, Derek!

Our kids hangin' out before riding Aladdin's Magic Carpets while Sam ran and got us all Fastpasses for Thunder Mountain.  (What's his problem?  Who skips out on the Magic Carpets???)

The girls even rode together.  *sniff*  Look how mature they look!

While Ben and I were off riding Thunder Mountain (for the 3rd time that night), Sam took Abby to meet Mickey & Minnie.  I do believe she stole their hearts, if I say so myself.  She was just Abby.  No autograph book.  Just her and her smile.  And I think Mickey and Minnie drank that up.

They danced together.

Shoot, they even posed together.  (Check out Abby's & Minnie's feet.)

And before we headed out for the evening, we stopped and watched what was, without a doubt, Abby's favorite part of the trip.

 

We watched it in its entirety 3 times.  Ben was less than thrilled.  Abby, on the other hand...

I'm surprised her little arm didn't fall off from waving so hard and that her cheeks didn't freeze in position from smiling so big.

It might not be the best picture ever.  But it's everything this trip was to me.  

Worth it.

We endured a deluge at the Magic Kingdom on Thursday.  And when I say deluge, I mean it.  It was a monsoon, an almost-hurricane, a super-soaker.  There were tornado watches, unceasing rains, and crazy winds.  Did that stop us from going to the park?  No sirree.  But it did stop me from taking the camera.  You know what else it meant?  Short lines.  The shortest of lines.  I'm talking the Buzz Lightyear ride two times in a row with no wait.  Sweet.

We rode every ride in the park that day.  We took a break to have dinner at the hotel and grabbed a quick nap afterward.  We got back to the park around 8pm, just as the rain ended.  And the place was desolate.  Double sweet.  (Sweet, sweet?)  We rode Space Mountain twice in a row with no wait.  Abby & Sam rode the Magic Carpets of Aladdin SIX times in a row without even getting off.  Perhaps most impressive of all was the princess meet-and-greet whose line was out the door on previous days, but that night was so empty we thought it was closed.  We were wrong.  And those princesses were oh-so-glad to see our princess.

Despite being promised (by me) that he wouldn't have to meet the princesses (and/or prince), Prince Navarre didn't take no for an answer.  So here's Mr. Baked Beans shirt with the characters of the Princess & the Frog.

We stayed until 1am that night.  We enjoyed every single minute.  Our family culminated our trip to the Magic Kingdom with a shortcut through the Confectionery on the way out.  Abby batted her eyelashes and smiled at the candy maker and she scored a free chocolate dipped marshmallow on a stick.  Divine.

I don't remember when they said it, and it doesn't matter, but separately, both kids thanked us and officially declared the Disney trip "the most awesome vacation ever".

I love my kids.  And Disney World's not too shabby either.

Down at the Hap-hap-happiest Place on Earth!

If it weren't for my wonderful husband's spontaneous streak, the kids and I would have spent Ben's Spring Break in Georgia, amidst the rain and unseasonable cold, playing the Wii, venturing out for dollar popcorn at Target, and visiting the library.  Not that those things aren't fun, and I suspect we'll be doing a lot of them this summer, but the alternative was better.

Walt Disney World

Up until a few days prior, the five of us were preparing for a highly-organized, painstakingly planned trip to central Florida.  Then we got the best news, quite possibly, ever.  My generous and thoughtful mother-in-law offered to make arrangements so that we wouldn't have to take our precocious, often-volatile, but still very cute toddler with us.  And in the moment she delivered the news that everything had fallen into place, the trip went from being stressful to feeling like vacation.

I might get flamed for this by a few random readers who don't know us personally.  We do most everything as a family, day in and day out.  But, how much more fun would Disney World be for a four year old girl and seven year old boy without their antsy toddler sister lagging behind as one of us tried to navigate her stroller through the crowds?  In a word (or two) - A LOT.

Let this stand as my very public and oh-so-gratuitous
Thank You!!!!! 
to all of the folks who made it possible for Sarah not to go to Disney World.  (Or something that makes it sound like I love her as much as I actually do and not how much I was ready to get rid of her.)

I will try to keep this as brief as possible, but seeing how we spent only one long day in New York City a year ago and I managed two entire blog posts about it, it may prove difficult for me to cram eight days at Disney World into one.  I'll give it my best shot.

We left early Friday morning, opting to take Ben out of school for an extra day to get the most bang for our Disney buck.  After delivering Sarah to her accommodating grandfather, who endured half a day with a 22 month old sidekick and lived to tell about it, we arrived in Orlando around 4pm.  Against all of the advice I read about setting a precedent and failing to live up to it with other parks in subsequent days, we went to the Magic Kingdom straight away.

We opted to go just us and the kids - no camera.  We wanted to see the excitement on our kids faces with our eyes, not through a lens.  (Okay, actually those are the wise words of my husband.  It took some convincing for me to leave it behind.)  You'll just have to believe me when I say it - the looks on their little faces were priceless.  Abby's eyes were as big as saucers (whatever that means) and Ben was soaking it all up.  We arrived just in time for a parade, which started, literally, as we entered Main Street.  It felt as if the entire thing unfolded in our honor.  And that was just the beginning of an amazing week.

Here is where I default to photos to tell the story where my words would fall short.  (Okay, so I have to supplement with a few words.)

The Animal Kingdom

Meeting Flik was the beginning of a new, unexpected obsession on the part of our surprisingly social, but always lovable Abby - the wonderful world of meeting characters.  (Ben was skeptical at first, but ended up enjoying it too.)

A man at the Dinosaur ride told Ben, "You have a lizard on your shirt!"  Ben looked down at his shirt, then back up at the man, and glared at him as if he'd heard that joke 100 times before and it had long since ceased to be funny.  Poor kid.  Can't take a joke - just like his old mom.

 

Here are the before and after shots of the Cali River Rapids ride.  Dry and then...not so much.

We didn't know who this guy was.  We've since been educated he was in Tarzan.  (And we have also since watched the movie, especially since a personality quiz at Hollywood Studios labeled Ben as most like Tarzan.)

Beating the drums in Africa.  On a random note, I actually think that Disney went so far as to mimic the climates of the regions in the Animal Kingdom.  Africa was blazin' hot and Asia felt cooler and more rainforest-y.  I have not confirmed that this is true, but I believe if anyone could do it, Disney World could.

Scanning the horizon for creatures on the Kilimanjaro Safari.  During the ride, Abby declared, "It's a great day to be in Africa!"  I suppose she thought we actually were.  I loved it.  Later, she said, "Thank you for taking me to Africa."  I think it's safe to say she enjoyed it there.

We kicked off a spree of Disney animated 3D shows with "It's Tough to be a Bug".  Maybe a bad idea?  But it ended up okay.  Hopper was a little scary to Abby.  The spray in the face, as the termite in the movie exterminated us with "acid", was a memorable event in her little life.  From that point on, every time we sat down in a theater, including the minute we walked into the Hall of Presidents on the last day, she would ask, "Does this have spray?!"  No spray at the Hall of Presidents.  (Of course, that kept me giggling throughout the duration of the presidential presentations.  I felt so very unpatriotic.)

 

We decided Ben is infatuated with touching things.  He was constantly laying, rubbing, and swinging on every surface at the parks.  Also, we discovered his deep-rooted fear of being lost.  It would have been physically impossible for us to leave him behind.  Not that I was trying to or anything...  The child had us by the hand with a death grip and if not our hand, our shirt or pants pocket.  If, for 30 seconds, we let go of his hand, he ran frantically in order to get back to us.  This was preferable to the little sister who broke away from us at her whim and even hid a couple of times.  A happy medium between the two would be fantastic.

We used our FastPass for Expedition Everest.  It was awesome.  Turns out, it was Ben's across-the-park favorite.  Who knew he would be our thrill-seeker?  (Not me.)  Ben and Sam are about a third of the way from the front.  Sam's wearing a yellow shirt.

Didn't spot them?  Here's a terrible quality zoom of them.  (Hey, I'm no photo/computer whiz.)   I absolutely love Ben's face.  This was the first of four times he rode it.  He appeared skeptical, but got over that quickly.  I think he told everyone he saw how much he loved this ride, strangers and friends alike.

 I think this picture speaks for itself as far as how much I enjoyed riding Triceratops Spin.

Here's where Abby cooperated for a photo for once, and Ben took the opportunity to impale himself in the eye with a triceratops horn.

And this is the duck who followed us around begging Spicy Doritos.  (She loved them.  Who would've guessed?)   Okay, that has nothing to do with Disney World, but it wouldn't be a blog post by me without something uber-random, right?

And that wrapped up a pretty long day at the Animal Kingdom.  Turns out, these little guys were plum tuckered out.  As I'm sure you are - from reading this post.

That said, this seems like an excellent place to take a break.  I suppose I will report to you by park.  That sounds like a plan!  Before I depart for an adventurous day as a stay-at-home-mom, let me just say that I have almost never been more proud of my two eldest children than I was the entire week of this trip.  Their little legs must've nearly fallen off from the walking and they complained not one single time.  I'm just going to come right out and say it - my kids rock my socks off.

Next park...Magic Kingdom?  Stay tuned...